Guilty Melody
by Mae Bleu
Summary: AU What if things had gone a little bit differently at that one critical moment? "It's okay." He said sternly, tightening his grip. He could feel the crystals spreading. He ignored them. "I'm right here with you, Sis."
1. Choice

_******AN:** Greetings earthlings, this be my fan fiction, and if you are reading this...good luck._

_If I am honest, I do not think this is my best work, but this plot bunny has been nagging me to the point of insanity, and I just finally decided that if its good enough for me, its good enough for you. Simply put: you're eyes won't bleed just by looking at it. They might water a little, but you won't die, or go blind, I promise._

_There isn't anything particularly gory or explicit as far as I know, so I'll rate this T for now and if I start delving off into horrific details maybe I'll consider changing it._

_I Don't Own Guilty Crown, any of its Characters, etc. etc. - if i did,(spoiler) the ending wouldn't have been so sad._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Choice_

The church was quiet, and peaceful. High vaulting ceilings providing open feel, pale walls and stiff pews clean and organized, the colorful stained glass windows bright in the cold winter sunlight. An enormous Christmas tree dominated the right side of the room, a hoard of glass and plastic painted obnoxiously bright colors speckling its body. It was all fairly innocent and normal… and doing nothing to distract the slight blonde child, no older than nine or so, fidgeting beside the altar.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous.

He stood there, glancing at the door every few seconds, shifting his weight, thinking of various different scenarios of how this long-awaited conversation would go. Each one seemed to be worse than the last.

_I have to do this._ He told himself. _I have to warn Shu about…_

He heard footsteps.

He turned towards the door eagerly, expecting to see his friend, only to freeze at the sight of an eerie smile, lips forming that nickname he had come to love.

"Triton."

He swallowed. "Mana…"

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shu didn't know what to expect as he headed for the church his friend, Triton, had asked him to meet him at. He had refused to tell him just anywhere, which led the boy to believe his friend didn't want to risk being overheard. But then who was there to overhear them? Father was usually at work and Haruka, while perky and occasionally exaggeratedly affectionate, was not the eavesdropping type. All that really left was Mana, but they shared virtually everything with her so… wait.

Triton had said, '_There's something I need to tell you about Mana…_', which could very well mean that Shu's sister was _exactly_ the person he didn't want overhearing them.

This both captured Shu's attention, and confused him. He rarely kept things from his sister, Triton even less.

This only opened up the question of what was so important that even Triton wouldn't want Mana to know about it?

Pondering this, he found himself thinking about Mana's recent behavior. She wasn't so different than she had always been at first, but it seemed that lately she had been doing odder and odder things that… frankly kind of scared him.

For example: not so long ago his sister had asked Shu to marry her.

On the one hand, he loved his sister and would be happy to spend the majority of his life with her. On the other, he was very much aware of what marriage entailed, and was quite sure he did not possess those kinds of feelings towards his sister.

Then she had kissed him.

He had been too shocked to do anything other than blush and stare dumbly at the time it had occurred, but he had since been mentally in denial about whatever message that action may have held.

It was perfectly normal, he told himself; he had been kissed before. Admittedly, only on the cheek, by family and once by Triton when Haruka had dared him to, but on the lips isn't really that different right?

Wrong. And he knew it. No sibling kissed their younger brother quite like _that_.

Shu was relieved when he saw the church; it meant he could push side this rather disturbing train of thought in favor of meeting Triton and figuring out what this was all about. He hoped it wouldn't take too long; Haruka had brought them here to Tokyo so it could be their first Christmas together as one big family, and he wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

When he reached the big double doors it had just begun to snow gently, and he saw they were already open.

"I loved you, you know."

_Mana?_

He heard her giggle. "Just kidding."

When Shu looked into the church, the first thing he noticed was Triton on the floor, in a pool of his own blood.

"Triton!"

He ran to his friend, temporarily disregarding his sister who knelt nearby.

"Triton, what happened!" He collapsed at the other boys' side, hovering over him anxiously. The blonde boy didn't respond, in fact he hardly seemed to hear him. Shu didn't know what to do, he'd feel better if he could see his friends face, but he didn't dare try and shake him to get his attention for fear he might make things worse.

"Shu,"

He turned.

Mana was sitting there, smiling. Her lips were red with something that didn't look like lipstick, smeared a bit across her cheek as if she had painted it on with her fingers.

She was calm and beautiful and innocent as she ever was, in her hands was a purple string twined in a shape reminiscent of a double helix. She offered the cat's cradle to him with something akin to excitement, happiness.

"Take this, Shu." She told him. "Let's use our genes to make a new world, Shu, a better one, for you and me."

Shu was taken aback. What was she talking about? Why was she acting so strange? Triton was hurt and she didn't seem concerned in the slightest.

Mana saw his startled flinch and scooted closer, her voice soft and comforting, something like childish surety mixed in.

"It's okay, don't be scared." She said soothingly, coming ever closer. "Let's do something fun together, Shu."

As she leaned towards him, something crystalline and purple seemed to erupt on her trailing locks of hair, covering them briefly, then shattering again. It freaked him out quite a bit. What was she, some sort of monster?

…No. She was his beloved sister, Mana. Mana was not a monster. But she was definitely acting strange. This was not the way Mana acted, there was something wrong with her.

Shu leaned back from his advancing sister, somewhat ineffectively. He attempted to hide the quiver in his voice as he spoke.

"Sis? What's wrong with you?" He asked.

She paused slightly, by now she was practically in his face. She gave him a puzzled look.

"Nothing's wrong, Shu. I'm fine." She smiled again and leaned further, her lips a hair's breadth from his before he placed his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back. He didn't mean to push her very hard, but she seemed to get further away from him than he meant.

"You're not fine!" He exclaimed. "You're acting strangely, Sis. It's scaring me!"

Mana sat there, a blank, faintly surprised look on her face. After a moment, during which Shu became increasingly worried, she blinked slowly.

"Shu… is scared of me?" She said softly, hurt in her voice. He quickly tried to amend the misunderstanding.

"Of course not, Sis!" He said, crawling over to her when he saw tears forming in her eyes; he tried to look reassuring. "I'd never be scared of you, but the way you're acting… It's not you. This isn't you, Sis!"

Mana seemed startled for a moment, then her features morphed into horror, and the tears that had been threatening to form flooded at full force.

"Shu…" Her voice shook. "_Shu…_I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Shu."

Her whole body trembled, she hugged herself as she hung her head and cried. Shu raised his hands as if to comfort her, but ultimately didn't know what to do with them and they only hung there. He also didn't understand what she was apologizing for.

Then he saw the crystals again. They had hidden beneath her hair, on the side of her face around her ear and hairline. Now they seemed to have a life of their own, crawling up her skin as if to consume her. He backed up instinctively.

"Please don't be scared, I'm scared too. Something's _wrong_ with me." Mana sobbed, the cancer slowly crawling over her hair. She looked down and saw it, shivering uncontrollably, and screamed.

Like a bomb going off, light exploded from her body, and Shu was temporarily blinded. He felt his back hit the floor, his head spun, and spots danced before his eyes. As soon as he regained his bearings, he immediately looked for his sister, his worry for her taking first priority.

Everything was on fire: the tree, the ceiling, the altar, the pews. The windows seemed to have been blasted from their frames.

Mana stood there among the flames, her reddish pink hair billowing hauntingly. She might have looked terrifying, if her tears and anguished expression didn't make her look so sad.

"I'm sorry, Shu." She said again. "I… I'm changing. I'm becoming something, something that's not me." The cancer spread more, working its way out her sleeves, down her legs. She tore at it with her hands vainly, crying.

She looked terrible. She was turning into something horrible. He could feel the power inside her, ready to burst out and wreak havoc, or something far worse.

She looked frightened. She looked sad. She was his sister.

"Help me…" She said. "Help me, Shu!"

He didn't know what he could do. He did the only thing he could.

He hugged her.

"It's okay." He said sternly, tightening his grip. He could feel the crystals spreading. He ignored them. "I'm right here with you, Sis."

Slowly, he felt her relax. Her crystal covered arms wrapped around him and squeezed tightly, as if he was her only lifeline.

"Shu…" She whispered, tears streaming down her face. "I'm scared."

The boy closed his eyes. He could feel the crystals crawling over him now as well, as if he were an extension of his sister's body.

"I know." He said. "I am too."

Everything exploded into white.

This time, it was much worse.

Shu didn't know quite what was happening to his sister, but he could feel the power escaping from her. He held on for dear life, and she did the same. In the back of his mind he wondered if Triton was okay, but the thought was blown away as he felt a strange twisting in his body, right down to his DNA, his sister's power wasn't blasting him away, but instead seemed to be accepting him, joining with him.

Even so, it was out of control.

Everything was a blur, Shu had no clear indication of anything, ground and objects were suddenly inconsequential, but he was aware of a number of things.

Mostly he was aware of Mana, in his arms, the crystals crawling over him, the worry and anguish and unexpectedly _pain_.

He was torn away from Mana, only able to hold onto her when they both latched onto the others wrist. The crystals were consuming her body, spikes suddenly exploding from her new crystalline form, one of them catching him in the side.

The pain was exponential, and Shu abruptly found himself crying, but when he stared into Mana's eyes he knew it wasn't the wound that made him cry.

"Shu…" He could barely hear her over some background roar of an unidentifiable source. "I'm sorry."

She looked so sad; he didn't want that, so he smiled. "Don't be. I love you, Sis."

Her sad, tormented face creased into a smile, it somehow managed to look beautiful even though tears still streamed down her face, and her body was crystallizing before his eyes.

"I love you, too."

He reached out to her with his free hand, and she did as well. Their fingers had almost touched when Mana abruptly let go.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Triton grunted as he pushed a chunk of what was once a wall off him. His stomach throbbed painfully and he wrapped an arm around it in a half-hearted attempt to support it and stem the still flowing blood.

He shivered a bit, and it wasn't because of the cold. He couldn't believe what had just occurred. It would be burned into his mind forever. His two best friends, Shu, Mana, a boy he had come to adore and a girl he had come to love, embracing as the world burned. Mana's terrified expression, her tortured scream, Shu's worry, the love and bravery it took to walk up to his insane, breaking sister and bear the pain with her.

Could he have done that? He certainly wanted to.

He swore he saw Mana fully crystallize and then shatter into a million pieces, the power of the virus she unleashed too much. He had seen Shu with her, but not at the moment she had shattered. He hoped he had imagined it and they were both alive. He couldn't bare the thought of losing either of them.

Triton looked around, the church was in ruins and in the distance the city wasn't much better. He could hear screaming and sirens and just the kind of noises people imagine when having nightmares about Armageddon.

He didn't see the siblings anywhere.

"Mana!" He shouted, not expecting, only hoping. "Shu!"

No response.

He picked his way among the rubble, looking about desperately. It was only a matter of time before some help arrived, if the sirens and other various sounds he heard were any indication. He wanted to find them before that.

"Shu! Mana!" He kept calling, turning over a few chunks of concrete unsuccessfully.

Finally, he got lucky.

"Shu? Shu!"

It was him.

He lay mostly hidden by rubble and the burned remains of the Christmas tree. Broken crystals were scattered around the area he laid, but miraculously nothing had fallen on him.

Triton fell at his friend's side, relieved and anxious and worried all at the same time. Shu's torn winter coat had blood staining the right side, looking closer he was horrified to see his friends right hand coated in the dreaded crystal, the sunlight making it look almost rainbow colored.

"Shu! Shu, wake up," No reaction. Triton felt close to tears. "Please Shu, open your eyes."

The boy stirred, and slowly, he complied. He looked up at Triton with glassy, red-brown eyes.

"Triton…?" He asked, as if unsure.

The blonde nodded.

"Mana…?"

Sadly, Triton shook his head, holding back the part of him that wanted to sob uncontrollably. "She's…I think she's…. gone, Shu." He said. "I'm sorry."

The brunette's expression saddened, but he retained a rather half-aware outlook. This worried Triton, and then he saw crystal sprouting from the wound in his side, crawling over the outside of his coat.

"Shu!" He exclaimed, horrified. No. No no no. He couldn't lose Shu, too. Not like this.

The other boy didn't seem very alarmed. His lips turned up a smidge.

"Triton… you know you're my best friend right?" He asked.

The blonde stared at him, eyes wide. "Shu…"

"And you're Mana's friend too, right?"

"Shu."

"You're like the brother I never had, and we love you so much, you know that don't you?"

"_Shu_."

"And we'll never forget you, and you'll never forget us, and…"

"_Shu_!" Triton practically screamed at his rambling friend, he was near tears now. "You're not going to die, so stop saying things like that!"

Shu smiled at him as if he hadn't just yelled at him. As if the cancer wasn't slowly consuming him like it did his sister. As if he didn't have a hole in his side and Mana hadn't disintegrated mere inches from his grasp.

"Don't cry, Triton." He said softly, shakily lifting his left hand to pat his friends tightly clenched one.

"It's all my fault," The blonde ground out. "I should have been able to protect you, protect you both, if I wasn't so _weak_…"

"You're not weak…" Shu said, with soft conviction. "You're kind. Don't ever lose that kindness, Triton."

He shifted, catching the blonde's attention, and raised his right hand where something was clenched. It took a second for the boy to realize it was being offered to him.

"For you," Shu said, letting the silver cross fall into his friend's hand. "It's from both of us."

His hand fell to the ground again, and Triton stared at the trinket in his palm. His hand shook, and he clenched it, willing away tears. It didn't work.

"Thank you."

Shu smiled. The crystals, advancing during the entire conversation, seemed to be growing not only on Shu but also on the area around him, slowly entombing him.

"I'm going to get stronger," Said the boy, looking his friend in the eye, unwavering, full of sadness, pain, and newborn strength. "For you, and for Mana."

Shu grinned weakly. "Promise?"

Triton nodded. "Promise."

He stood and backed up, watching, as his friend's face was the only thing left showing. The crystals were enormous, and strangely beautiful; shining pale, brilliant colors rather than that cancerous purple.

Triton couldn't stop his lip from trembling. "Goodbye, Shu."

Shu's voice sounded faint, as if it was coming from somewhere far away. "See you later, Triton."

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_So... terrible? Okay? Are your eyes still in their sockets? I admit to having this really bad habit of starting stories because of an idea I really like and then not going anywhere with them when the plot fizzles out. I've planned the next few chapters of this already in the hopes I won't do that again, but I would appreciate opinions and ideas, I'm always open to suggestions. If you review, please be friendly, I have a faint heart and you might just hurt my feelings. That being said, I'm here to improve, so feel free to tell me what I could do better._

MB


	2. Consequences

**_AN: _**_Well, how's it goin' peoples... This chapter is mainly just setting up for later so I felt I could just stick it up right away, don't expect more for a while, I have no plans to spoil you all._

_So, since this is an AU...I had originally planned up to about chapter 8 but when I thought about it, I wonder if maybe I should try and delve off into a direction further removed from the original anime, that's the beauty of fan fiction right? I'm not really sure, since when it comes to fan fiction, I'm kind of timid about neglecting or contradicting the original work. Plus, my imagination is hopelessly limited in some aspects._

_I forgot to mention in the previous chapter about how I really feel Shu and Gai's friendship was downplayed in the series. For Gai it was always 'ManaManaMana' and though I love GC I felt kind of annoyed that they didn't have a whole lot of beautiful friendship/bromance going on. I'm trying to create that here._

_I wasn't entirely sure how to express some of the characters in this chapter, and though due to the nature of the AU, some characters will have different personalities, we haven't really gotten to that point yet so I really hope I did some of these guys justice._

_I Do Not Own Guilty Crown, or anything related to it._

_Onward._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Consequences_

Things couldn't be any worse.

Everyone was gone. Kurosu, the children… half the city was in shambles and its population was in chaos. It was a miracle she had found a peaceful moment to have a funeral for her husband at all. Haruka could only hope that Mana and Shu and Triton were out there somewhere beneath the rubble, waiting to be found. It was a vain hope.

She stood there alone, everyone else having long since left the fresh grave, all in black and shivering in the rain. It was weird how it was raining when it was supposed to be winter, but maybe the sky saw the pain and suffering going on below it and was weeping for their sakes. Unlikely, but it was a thought.

The widowed young woman shook with silent sobs, clenching her hands, wishing more than anything she had those children she had come to love with her, just so she knew they were safe, and so they could help her bear this grief.

It had been perhaps a week since the outbreak of what was referred to as the Apocalypse virus, dubbed as such because it was just that terrible. They were calling that day 'Lost Christmas', the day Tokyo imploded, and only now were things starting to get under control.

The country had been in such shambles that they had no way whatsoever to help themselves, so the world intervened. Within hours it seemed, the GHQ was formed and sent aide to the broken country, and though the virus still raged, it was contained and people were getting over their initial panic.

But where did this leave Haruka? Her husband was dead, her children missing, probably dead as well though she loathed admitting it, lest she lose what little hope she clung to. After all, without them, what was there for her to live for?

A cracked, hysterical giggle escaped her lips where she stood grieving. How ironic, that the day they were supposed to be together, be happy, had turned into a nightmare for all of them. She doubted she was the only one who lost everything because of the outbreak; she should probably consider herself lucky she even had her life.

"But I don't want to be lucky…" She murmured to herself, gentle brown eyes dark with sorrow. She dropped her umbrella and fell to her knees in the dirt, the rain mixing with her tears. "I want my family!"

Without them, there was really nothing else.

**OoOoOoOoO**

It had a strange beauty to it, this unmistakable result of the Lost Christmas. It wasn't like all the other cancer crystals left behind by the outbreak, or the ones that even now grew over the infected citizens. It wasn't the same dark purple blue, no, it seemed like it might be clear, and yet had captured light inside of it, instead making the huge growth a beautiful myriad of colors, something warm and comfortable radiating from it rather than the sinister, apprehensive feeling the very sight of the Apocalypse crystals usually induced.

It was exactly because it was so strange and unexplainable that it had been brought to this newly established headquarters. GHQ was still new, so it would be a time before they had a proper base, but it would do for their current purposes.

It was vaguely egg shaped, like an incubation chamber, and dominated the middle of the room like a great tumor. Around it was several machines, the various scientists that had been studying the thing temporarily elsewhere as he examined it.

_There is something special about this thing_, he thought. Of course there had to be, it had formed as a result of the failed Third Apocalypse. It was unfortunate it had failed- although he was glad as well- but there was always next time.

It would take awhile to figure out how that was going to come about, but it was still so soon after the Lost Christmas, there was no rush and he had nothing if not time.

Looking back at the crystal, he gave studied it contemplatively. The scientists had been avoiding touching the thing since it could very well just be another chunk of virus waiting to spread itself, but he somehow doubted it.

Without fear, he stepped up to it, it was far taller than he, and placed a hand gently on its glistening surface. Like the egg he had compared it to, it felt pleasantly warm to the touch. It felt almost as though he held a hand on another living being rather than a rock that was likely a cancer bomb waiting to explode.

Enraptured by the soft tingling sensation it sent through his arm, he slid his hand across its surface and leaned closer, so his ear and then the entire side of his face rested against it.

It pulsed.

His eyes widened. "It's _alive_."

He pulled back, stunned as he stared into the glassy surface of the crystal-no, _cocoon_- before him. Looking closely, he thought he could almost see the form, wrapped in the embrace of this unique strain of the virus. His mind ran through dozens of possible explanations, and though a number were plausible, there was only one he knew to be the truth.

The man felt a sudden surge of irrational rage- this was exactly what he didn't want- and contemplated destroying the thing now that he knew what its purpose was.

"I wouldn't if I were you." A smug voice warned.

Drawing away from the cocoon in an almost instinctual effort not to appear threatening, he turned to address the intruder.

"Yuu."

The blonde, deceptively young looking boy smiled in a way that didn't look at all friendly. "Shuichiro," He greeted, coming closer. "Getting acquainted with our new friend?"

The man made little reaction, his face cold as usual, but he frowned slightly. "This thing is but a sample, a unique result of the outbreak, it means nothing. It's not important."

Yuu 'tsked' condescendingly. "Oh Shuichiro, don't act like you haven't noticed. This isn't just any hunk of rock, it's our _future_."

He stepped right up to the crystals base, placing his hands on it and leaning his cheek on its warm face affectionately. The boy closed his eyes as he felt the cocoon pulse again, like a beating heart. With his senses, he reached into the depths of the cocoon, just to catch of glimpse of the precious thing it protected. His smile grew wider.

Shuichiro, on the other hand, twitched as if with well controlled anger. "I highly doubt that."

Yuu's eyes snapped open. His expression didn't change, still the amused, somewhat disturbing smile, but his eyes spoke of cruelty and the death of anyone who dared go against his and his organizations goals. Shuichiro, though a cold, cruel man himself, flinched.

"You're personal preference does not matter, Shuichiro. You are valuable, but this little one is ever so much more. This is exactly what I, what we, _Daath_ want. With this little one, the new world is within our grasp, and incomparable power in the meantime." Yuu moved away from the cocoon and grasped Shuichiro's collar, dragging the taller man down to look him straight in the eyes. "I forbid you from attempting to destroy this cocoon, anything involving it and who it protects will be overseen by me. You are to work towards the best interest of Daath, if you attempt to get in the way of that, I will not hesitate to exterminate you." The boys voice was icy and cruel as he threatened his partner in crime into submission.

It was a long moment before Shuichiro gave a reluctant, stiff nod to show he understood and Yuu let him go. As the man exited the room, deciding it was in his best interest to give the boy some space, he paused for a moment and looked back.

"Seeing as I am to keep in mind the well-being of the… future, I assume I have the freedom to bring in someone… properly qualified?" He asked. Yuu didn't need to look at him to get an idea of what he meant, and nodded.

Shuichiro left and the boy stayed with the cocoon alone. He smiled as he rested his hands on it once more.

"The future… You are our leader, our savior, our destroyer… our King."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Haruka couldn't remember when she had last eaten. She stared dully at the ceiling of her GHQ issued apartment, little more than a box with substandard furniture and appliances. She wore only her pajamas, and had for the past two days. Somewhere in those two days she had stopped bothering to get up to eat, and within the last five hours she had stopped moving altogether besides the occasional blink.

She was depressed, and she knew it. What could she do? She had no job to distract her, no friends around to cheer her up, no husband she loved and no children she adored. She had to close her eyes and will away the grief that welled up with that one thought. She wasn't worried about crying, she had no tears left, but she had enough self-preservation left to know that thinking about their loss would only make things worse.

She tried to distract herself with wondering what she could do to get out of this funk, but unfortunately, she really couldn't think of anything. What was there to do? She was a scientist, she could always join the search for the virus vaccine, but Kurosu had been researching the same thing and hadn't seemed to have gotten anywhere in all that time, and if Kurosu couldn't figure it out, no one could.

Haruka wanted nothing to do with that virus anyway, it had allegedly stolen her children from her, and though Kurosu's body hadn't been crystallized, she wouldn't be surprised if his death was somehow related to it.

Her phone, which had been discarded on the side table, began to ring. She just listened to it for a moment, not really comprehending the sound, then considered just ignoring it and letting it go to voicemail. She ultimately set aside this option, since honestly, whoever it was; it would get her mind off her family.

Slowly, her arm feeling like lead, she dragged the device closer and answered it.

"…Hello?" Her voice sounded dull and tired. A shadow of the person she was; _once _was.

"Haruka." The other voice said, steady and assured, the opposite of hers. Her eyes widened.

"Brother?" She sat up quickly, and the world spun on its axis. Now that she was up, she should probably eat something.

"Haruka," Shuichiro said. "I have an offer for you, something I know you will most certainly wish to be apart of."

"Something like…?" She encouraged him to go on. She wasn't sure why her brother was calling out of the blue like this, but it seemed important, and heaven knows she needed some sort of calling in her life.

"A chance." Her brother said, something in his voice making her hold her breath. "A chance to be with your son, and, perhaps, your daughter…"

Haruka was stunned, the phone almost slipped from her hand as his words sank into her brain. He couldn't be serious could he?

No, Shuichiro was always serious.

Did that mean he knew where they were? He seemed to be implying yes, but that there was something else, something deeper, more complicated keeping them from her.

What was her answer?

Obviously, there was only one answer.

"Whatever it is, I'm in."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**_AN:_**

_Well...yeah. Here it is._

_I hope I managed to get Yuu in character, since I only had to work with what we see of him in the anime. He kind of strikes me as a goal oriented person, he doesn't much care about using and discarding people if they get in his way or prove useless to him, but since he's so dedicated, he won't let anything happen to the 'King'._

_I can't believe I wrote a depressed Haruka. That's kind of a scary thought isn't it? Ah well, how would you feel if your entire family died and you were left all alone?_

_So please, read, review, give me suggestions, ideas; I get writers block really easy people, if you want to see this story continue, you'll have to contribute._

_:P_

_MB_


	3. Happening

**AN: **_I really feel like I'm spoiling you guys, I kept telling myself I would wait to post since I'm just cranking 'em out one after the other. I wanted to torture you all a little longer, for my own personal amusement if nothing else, but I had this chapter finished and it was just...NAGGING me. So be grateful. Seriously. You ought to be giving me candy for this._

_That being said, I'm a little...iffy about this chapter. Pretty much everything rides on this, I looked over it and I like it but at the same time...I'm am perhaps just concerned about how YOU guys will react to it. So...you know the drill._

_I Own Nothing In Any Relation Whatsoever To Guilty Crown etc. etc. Yadda Yadda Yadda ON WITH THE SHOW!_

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Happening_

_He felt so warm._

_Warm, and safe, as if he sat in the arms of his mother, the one had never met. He had never really minded not having a real mother, he had never met her, so he could hardly miss her, but sometimes when he saw other children with their mothers, he wondered what it was like to have one._

_He wondered what her voice was like._

_His mind was in a kind of haze, but not in a bad way. It was as if nothing really mattered, nothing felt alarming or significant. He didn't really think because there was nothing to think about, nothing to focus on._

_He didn't know where he was. He hardly knew _what_ he was._

_Though there was…something. He felt different somehow, than before. He didn't know how different, just not the same._

_He was changing, he realized. But into what? For better or worse? He wasn't sure._

_He heard something, or thought he did, which immediately captured his interest seeing as he had never been able to hear things before._

_It sounded like… what was it?_

_It was beautiful._

…_Singing. It sounded like singing._

_It made him happy somehow. And sad. _

_What was sad again?_

_He listened more._

_Who was it he wondered._

_**Is that you, Mana?**_

**OoOoOoOoO**

Yuu pursed his lips thoughtfully. He could feel the little one stirring, so perhaps their efforts were not all in vain, but he was no closer to awakening than he had been a year ago.

He stood back and gazed at the Cocoon, a beautiful centerpiece in their shiny new GHQ headquarters. It had been awhile since the Lost Christmas, almost three years in fact. They had been monitoring the Cocoon since they had brought it here, and trying out different 'tunes' in hopes of getting the thing to resonate and relinquish its precious cargo. They had only started a bit more than a year ago, since Yuu did not wish to rush the transformation going on within, but he had been monitoring the little ones growth himself and was sure that he was ready.

Even so, here they were, with the Cocoon still in one piece and its occupant in a semi-hibernating state.

"Stubborn one, aren't you." He remarked, not that anyone could hear him.

Yuu had begun to pace the breadth of the room when he heard someone else enter the chamber.

Shuichiro was a tall man; his features a mixture of the cold and hard angles of a person who chooses not to indulge in the more pleasant things in life. His hair was going prematurely grey, why Yuu could only make well in-formed guesses, though he personally thought it fitting such a coarse, distant man.

With the kind of purpose and authority military officers and politicians envy, Shuichiro walked up to the base of the pedestal-like protrusion that the Cocoon sat upon, like the bud of a huge flower that was simply awaiting the right season to bloom.

He was just standing there looking at it when Yuu decided to make himself known. Gliding over like some great bird of prey, he levitated himself just over his partners shoulder.

"Up to something, Shuichiro~?" He drawled pseudo-amiably, the kind of voice that raised the hairs on people's necks.

Shuichiro, to his credit, did not flinch. "Good afternoon, Yuu."

The boy smiled. "Good indeed, hm? I hear you finally cultivated the Void Genome, congratulations. We might actually be getting somewhere." He said cheerily.

Shuichiro chose not to respond. Yuu floated around him, looked at him thoughtfully, and smirked.

"That's not taking into account you're little experiments, still can't find a proper substitute? All those little orphan boys not enough? And some of them were kind of cute too…" He laughed maniacally while the man remained aloof, eyeing him coolly.

"I would've once thought you'd be against continuing looking for a suitable 'Adam' when we found _it_." He cut his eyes to the Cocoon, colorful and warm as always before them.

Yuu waved a hand dismissively. "Daath started them in the first place, they can act as a kind of plan B if ever we need one. Though our first option will always be the original, there are other useful things that can be attained from such research." He gave Shuichiro a smug look. "Although, watching your failure can be a useful pursuit in itself."

The man's lips twitched, an action mostly hidden by his moustache. He met Yuu's eyes with an icy gaze. "You go through so much trouble to protect that thing, and yet you do not know if he shall ever wake. How do you know he is even worth the trouble?" He turned to the Cocoon, and pinned it with his hard glare, as if it could feel it. "Kurosu's genes need not lead the new world, that child is unworthy of being 'Adam'."

Yuu made a contemplative 'hmm' and floated over to the Cocoon, giving one of his affectionate embraces by more or less lying on it with his arms spread.

"But that's where you're wrong, Shuichiro. It's because of this Cocoon, this abnormal crystallization that proves he is Adam, the one, the original. The virus has chosen him, accepted him as its King, and his transforming him to fit his role." He smiled as he listened once more to the soft stirring deep within the Cocoon. "Now, it is only a matter of finding the right song."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Gai Tsutsugami, formerly known as Triton, was contemplating whether or not he was suicidal. He was thinking it was plausible, seeing the situation he had gotten himself into this time.

For crying out loud he was a kid, why was he here, in Africa of all places, in danger of getting his head blown off? Was he _insane_?

_Maybe a little_, he admitted to himself mentally as he stood quickly from his hiding place, shot a few rounds, and threw himself to the ground behind another low wall while the other one was met with another rain of bullets.

He wasn't even sure who they were fighting or why, all he knew was what they looked like and that they were trying to kill him. Whose idea was it to use child soldiers anyway?

Something small and silver came flying and landed near his foot, a small blinking light visible on its surface. Gai's eyes widened to near impossible size.

"Shit!"

He got up, not caring there were bullets bouncing off walls around him, and ran for cover, preferably a ways away from that bomb. He had barely leapt behind another half-crumbled wall before there was an explosion and some random rubble came flying past him. He cursed in a very un-childlike way and scrambled to get his back against the wall, catching his breath as he gripped his weapon tightly against his chest.

_I _am_ insane. I'm going to get myself killed._

Maybe. It was entirely likely.

"_Promise?"_

He froze. He had promised he would become stronger. That was exactly why he had come here, to fulfill that promise. He reached into his thick jacket, and felt the silver cross inside his shirt, over his heart.

He had promised. He wasn't going to break it.

Another of those shiny little grenades landed not far from him, close enough to be threatening and induce another mad run for cover. But this time he didn't. Quick as a flash, he snapped it up and hurled it over the wall with all his strength. He had ducked down again before he could see the results but the explosion and screams of pain were enough to tell him he had been successful.

The steady flow of fire ceased, and Gai took his chance and ran. All he knew he had to do was shoot every enemy in the area, so all there was to do was keep going.

As he ran around a corner, a man ran straight into him, knocking him clean off his feet and slamming his back into the ground. Gai's vision spun while he heard the man, much bigger, much older, much scarier, say something in a language he didn't understand and suddenly he was very aware of the barrel of a weapon being pointed at him.

The boy screamed something unintelligible, pointed his own gun, and fired several shots without looking. When he dared to open his eyes again a few seconds later, all he saw was a big body sway a bit, then fall heavily to the ground. He just blinked it stupidly for a moment, briefly wondering what had just happened before he saw blood beginning to pool beneath the body.

_I just killed someone._ He thought, horror taking over.

Sure, he had been shooting a gun from a distance for a while, but he never knew if he actually hit anyone, and sure, he had just minutes ago thrown a bomb among a bunch of men, but all he'd gotten was some noises, and it had been a ways away.

This was different, it was up close and personal, and if he was honest with himself his first proper kill had been almost on accident, simply because he had been dizzy and overwhelmed with animal instinct when he saw the gun look threatening.

Bile rose in his throat, and he turned to hack up some of his measly rations onto a pile of rocks. When he was finished he gave the corpse a hard, thin-lipped look. He didn't want to kill people, he didn't want to see people harmed, but it was necessary. If he was going to be of any use, if was going to have to get used to killing people and be good at it. He would lock his heart away if he had to. He had to become strong. Strength was all that mattered in this world.

"_You're not weak…"_

Gai closed his eyes and clutched his weapon, steeling himself.

"_You're kind. Don't ever lose that kindness, Triton."_

He drooped for a moment. Shu was right. To be kind was not to be weak; what mattered was applying strength and leadership in the right places and tempering it out with kindness and understanding at the right times.

Wiping away a stray tear and hefting his gun, Gai smiled briefly. "What would I have ever done without you, Shu?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

The Cocoon chamber was fairly quiet, whatever personnel normally present absent, the resonance broadcaster to the side silent. The Cocoon sat on its altar as always, radiating pleasant warmth and light in the otherwise gloomy looking room.

Haruka sat beside it, leaning her side against it so she could feel the things steady pulsations. They soothed her after a stressful day, reminded her what she was fighting for, told her that life still existed within the huge crystal.

The young woman released a long sigh. "Three years, Shu. _Three years_." She laughed softly. "You're supposed to be ten by now right? You've missed a few birthdays, think of all the cake!" She laughed again, a bit louder, and hummed. "Tell you what, when you wake up, we'll have one big party, with lots and lots of cake, to make up for those years, okay?"

She laid a hand on the Cocoons side, felt the tingling of energy, the pulse of a heart just out of her reach.

"Okay…Shu?"

He didn't respond. He never did.

When her brother had told her that her son was inside of this thing, she hadn't really believed it, hadn't dared to hope. But the facts- however insane they were- crept up on her, and finally she had faced the reality: Mana was the host for the virus and had destroyed herself on Lost Christmas, and Shu, as her chosen partner, had been consumed and was now being 'incubated' by the virus. Shuichiro had given her a choice; she could help them, work as part of the newly formed Sephirah Genomics and ultimately Daath, and be able to see Shu when he was released, or return to her apartment, never speak a word of what she had seen, and find something else to do with the remainder of her life.

It was obvious what she had chosen.

Since, it had been three long years. Only recently had they actually started trying to awaken Shu, or Adam as the blonde Gravekeeper boy, Yuu called him. It had angered her at first; she wanted to awaken Shu _as soon as possible_, but when it became clear it wasn't going to happen she had eventually accepted it.

Shuichiro did a good job of putting her to work, and she was able to fall into a comfortable routine. The hope that she may see her son again had only been a kindling fire, now she had purpose, a job to do and memories that she cherished but didn't let shackle her to the ground.

Even so, at least once a week she came here to the Cocoon. Talking to someone who wouldn't answer back. It might seem strange to other people, but not to her. It helped her heart, the same way a pregnant mother might talk to the baby in her stomach. Even if he couldn't understand her, maybe he could still hear her voice, or feel her presence through the walls of the Cocoon.

If anything, it kept her sane.

"Haruka," Her brother's voice brought her from her thoughts. He stood by the entrance, calm and poised. He gave her a meaningful look. "It's time."

She blinked a few times, surprised, but got up nonetheless and joined them near the computer terminal. Yuu stood nearby and inserted a crystal into the device, then stood back and smirked at her. She was being given the honor apparently.

Haruka sat, put on her glasses, and began typing rapidly on the huge keyboard, eyes flickering over the multiple screens. She hadn't been aware they were trying another resonance today, but she had been present for every single one and knew exactly how it went. Since this computer was almost exclusively for resonance broadcasting, it only took about a minute to set up.

The actual broadcaster sat nearby, an antenna-like device of strange design she couldn't really describe. When she was finished, and the genetic match was confirmed, she started it and watched.

Metallic, glowing rings appeared around the top of the resonance broadcaster, and after a moment a smooth note filled the room. After it came another note, and another, and soon a gentle, almost lullaby like song was being broadcast.

Haruka was surprised; the kind of tune the virus seemed to favor were nothing like this, this was gentle and beautiful, not the eerie, high pitched ringing they usually tried. She looked to her brother and Yuu in askance, but both of them, with their respective expressions of aloof and amusement, had all their attention on the Cocoon. She decided she would ask later and returned her gaze to the crystal as well.

_What a pretty song_, she thought. _This is definitely more Shu's style._

As the song continued, nothing seemed to happen.

Then the Cocoon began to glow. The rainbow light trapped within its depths seemed to stir, shifting like the surface of the ocean. A low, steady humming began to come from it, increasing in volume as the song continued. The glow from the Cocoon gradually grew brighter until they had no choice but to avert their eyes.

The song ended.

The glow died down. The humming stopped. They all looked at the Cocoon expectantly. Haruka didn't know when she had stood from her seat; it had never reacted this way before, if that wasn't a resonance then she didn't know what was.

A minute passed and the Cocoon was silent, and dull. Haruka suddenly wondered if they had somehow killed it, panic briefly overtaking her mind.

Then it cracked.

The pristine crystal surface cracked right down the middle like an egg. It got almost halfway of the Cocoons full height before the single crack split into three, then five, then twelve. Like a capsule with a cover being broken instead of removed, the whole upper front part of the Cocoon spider webbed with cracks, then small pieces of crystal started to fall off.

The Cocoon shattered in an explosion of crystal and a sudden _thrum_ of energy.

What lights had been on in the room had gone out sometime during the resonance, now the only light was the soft myriad of colors that licked over the broken Cocoon like flames. In the cavity that had formed something moved, and Haruka rushed forward.

"Shu!" She looked into the cavity, where a small, completely naked body sat.

Whatever had gone on in the Cocoon, it hadn't stunted his growth, he looked older, and like the ten-year-old he was. His hair was longer, untamed the brown locks fell around his thin shoulders messily. His eyes were redder than she remembered, very red all things considered, but they held the same innocence, the same kindness and curiosity. They were Shu's eyes.

Haruka felt tears well up and a smile of pure happiness burst across her face.

"Shu…" Unable to contain herself, she reached into his broken egg and hugged him. She couldn't be happier: Shu was alive. Kurosu's son was alive. _Her_ son was here in her arms. She wasn't alone anymore.

"…Ha…ru…ka…?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, Shu." She pulled back so she could smile at him tearfully. "Welcome back."

Shuichiro stood where he had, stiff and grim. He didn't say anything, but Haruka's tears somehow softened his initial discontent.

On the other side of the computer, Yuu smiled as he observed Haruka wrapping her lab coat around her son's bare shoulders.

"Adam has awakened."

**OoOoOoOoO**

**AN:**

_...BLERGH. O-o_

_So, you like? Have you noticed my absolute love of cliffhangers? I swear, the entire chapter system is based around what would or would not be the best cliffhanger. It's almost sad._

_About Gai's section, I left his age ambiguous because I honestly have no clue what would be a reasonable age for a child soldier, and actually saying in text that he was only ten years old seemed almost TOO outlandish, so I just left it kind of out there, so it could have occurred any time during the years between him leaving and him returning.__If you're wondering where I got the African thing in the first place, Shibungi mentioned at some point that he met Gai in Africa, as a child soldier, and I felt like since Gai is a main character too, I ought to incorporate what he was up to during this time, and since I love to torture characters (especially my favorites) I gave him his own little section involving losing some of his innocence with the conscious murder of another._

_So anyway...I hope this...was...okay. Please don't leave me because I have issues when it comes to plot. Read, review, suggest, have a cookie, bla bla bla bla blaaaaaaa. :P_

_MB_


	4. Adam

_**AN: **So many reviews in so little time...I love you guys. I really do. Even just the little ones make me happy, I just love feeling appreciated. But then who doesn't? This is my present to you all._

_Okay, so... in my opinion this chapter is a little iffy but... I went over it and I'm not sure what else I can do. Maybe I'll redo it later, but for now, it's at least passable. __This chapter and the next one actually turned out quite a bit different than I had intended, though I stuck to the general outline. I guess that's just how stories are huh?_

_Some of you don't like how short my chapters are, and I'm telling you now to DEAL WITH IT, because if I don't keep these short and sweet, I may very well not write them at all. It's how I work and you'll have to live with that since I'm sure you want me to actually finish this and I know I do so..._

_I Own Nothing That Is Guilty Crown Related, either by proxy, marriage, adoption, kidnap, etc. etc. etc._

_Moving along then..._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Adam_

The 'Kings' awakening was, perhaps, not ideal. There had been three people present: one was inwardly hoping he'd spontaneously implode; one was pleased but in a creepy kind of way, and the last was too happy for words. And, said King was naked. He hadn't cared much at the time but when he thought about it afterward it kind of bugged him. Especially now that he knew the virus crystals were capable of forming clothes.

And absolutely none of this was significant at present, but it was something to think about.

Right now Shu was playing with his hair. Haruka had cut it for him way back when he first awoke, but had left it kind of long because she thought it looked 'adorable'; her words, not his. Now the brunette twelve-year-old was blowing his bangs from his eyes, bored, watching them fall back and then repeating the process. It was actually entertaining in a mundane kind of way.

_I'm so bored, there's no one to play with. I miss Triton…_ Shu pouted inwardly. Haruka was normally happy to spend time with him, but she was an adult, and was usually busy anyway, especially now that she was so high up in the Sephirah Genomics hierarchy. Shuichiro hated him, even if he thought he was too good to show it. Yuu was… frankly kind of scary, and Shu already spent as much time with the blonde creeper as he was capable of without it being possibly damaging to his mental state.

Because Yuu was more or less in charge of Shu's structural integrity, and he was the oh-so-important King, he had made it a point that the boy wasn't allowed outside the headquarters.

And it _sucked_.

He was twelve, he didn't want to sit around plotting the world's demise, he wanted to go out and have fun. Shu wasn't like other kids his age: he had been destined from birth to be one of two harbingers of destruction of the human race, he had spent three years of his life inside of a rock, and he had some pretty kick-ass powers that, while cool, only made him want to go out more so he could _really_ stretch his limits. Still though, a child is a child.

For a twelve-year-old, Shu thought himself fairly mature and intelligent. One thing he was not, however, was patient. One of the first things Yuu had helped him master had been levitation, and it was pretty freaking awesome. He wanted to _do_ something with it.

His only real 'tutor' was Yuu, who took it upon himself to educate Shu in the workings of his abilities, and what he called 'the things a king ought to know'. He also had a habit of getting into long, morbidly detailed rants about the ugly reality of humanity and how he and Mana are going to create a new world from the ashes of the old. It was certainly interesting in a mildly disturbing kind of way, as well as made Shu question his own desires and thoughts on the subject, but not really the kind of thing he'd prefer to spend his time listening to.

Mostly he just nodded, and paid attention, that was what everybody expected after all.

It was mainly constant pestering from Haruka and the memory of his tragic last moments before his 'hibernation' that kept him from getting a swelled head here at the GHQ base. They seemed to have a huge chunk dedicated to the Anti-Bodies, the group Shuichiro commanded, and the Daath followers. Shu wasn't sure if it was a secret base-within-a-base or what, but he knew he was only allowed within certain places and that everyone within this place worshiped the ground he walked on.

It had kind of annoyed him at first; no one called him by his name except Haruka, who was his stepmother and actually knew him personally, and Shuichiro, who refused to acknowledge him. It wasn't really the name that bothered him anymore, but rather what it implied.

"Adam!"

Even so, he had grown used to it.

He looked down from his perch on one of the pillars in the chamber. Shu had at some point dubbed this the Moving room, because of the complicated mechanics that made huge chunks of the floor raise and lower during training sessions. Shu had to admit, training with Yuu was a nightmare, but thankfully his mentor was never serious, and the young Adam never had to fear for his life.

"Yuu…" Shu greeted as he saw the youth float up to his level. "Do we _have_ to right now?" He moaned, his expression typically pouting.

Yuu waved a finger back and forth. "Now now, little King, no excuses. Perfection isn't achieved over night you know, weakness is not tolerated in the natural cycle."

The boy sighed- that was what he always said.

Still, he had to do it, and Yuu wouldn't leave until he did. Shu stood and stalled for a moment, pretending to straighten his regal black coat, and then looked at the blonde expectantly.

Neither of them said anything.

A spike of black crystal exploded from the pillar near Shu's feet, shooting at Yuu as if to impale him. The youth seemed to split into dozens of white ribbons, avoiding the attack, and then reformed a short ways away, laughing.

"That's it! You're getting better at surprise attacks, that probably would have worked if it wasn't me."

Shu gave him an innocent look. "Who said it didn't work?"

Red veins glowed within the spike, and the whole thing abruptly exploded. Shu leapt forward, off the platform, the light jump carrying him further than humanly possible as he floated to another pillar. He landed gently and already black crystals erupted on the surface around him, suddenly shooting up into a wall behind him, blocking a sudden attack from Yuu.

Shu's powers were amazing, he had to admit, even though they came from a virus that had more or less ruined his life. He had accepted it pretty readily, actually, what he was. It was hard not to believe, after what he had seen, and he understood that there were things he had no control over and was truly set from birth to turn out this way. He could do a variety of things, mainly controlling his own unique strain of the virus, as well as the normal stuff he saw infecting people, such as commanding it to consume someone in matter of seconds. He personally preferred not to utilize that ability; killing people for no other reason than to say that he could was not how he wished to spend his childhood.

If there was one power he did not have that his mentor did, it was the Power of Kings, the power of the Void Genome. He couldn't help but think that was odd, it was 'Power of Kings' after all, and he was the King, not having it seemed somehow wrong. Yuu hadn't been particularly alarmed by this however, and when Shuichiro had suggested giving him one of the ones they had developed, the Gravekeeper had claimed that if he were meant to have it, the virus would have given it to him. Haruka had been dead set against it, saying he was far too young for such a thing. The subject was dropped at that point.

Though his core personality had survived his 'awakening', Shu was very much aware he was not the same person he was five years ago. He would always consider 'Shu' to be his real name, but Shu the child had died five years ago, and was reborn into this new Shu, now called Adam.

He would be lying if he said this was the life he wanted, the purpose he was happy with.

But then what exactly _did _he want?

Shu was loosing focus in the task at hand, and one of his spires of crystal shattered when Yuu hit it. The impact sent the boy sprawling on his back.

"Not paying attention to the enemy before you. You cannot afford that in your current state, Adam. That's points off for you." Said the youth, landing nearby and putting his hands on his hips.

"Sorry…" Shu murmured, sitting up. It seemed like everyone expected so much of him.

Yuu pursed his lips briefly, then scoffed lightly and came over to kneel before his young charge.

"Adam, you understand what you are doing is for the good of everyone, right?"

Shu frowned a little, but nodded. "How?" He asked.

The youth seemed to consider the question, then held up his hand and ribbons formed, twirling around and coming together in a small crystal globe, a dull, dark rendering of the earth.

"The world is an ugly place, Adam." He said. The globe leached dark energy, and a crack formed down its dark surface. "Its people are self-destructive, if left alone they will destroy themselves. To begin, something must end, not unlike you." The globe shattered, its pieces piling in Yuu's hand. He smiled. "But from the remains of destruction, something great can be born."

Shu watched in fascination as the pieces came together, and from them a crystal flower sprouted, delicate and pale blue in color. It was beautiful.

"It's so pretty." Said the young Adam, in awe. Yuu smirked and the flower shattered into tiny sparkling shards.

"That, Adam, is why you will destroy the world and then create it anew, spending the rest of eternity with your Eve, with Mana. You want that don't you?"

Shu stood slowly and gave a tiny nod. After a beat he raised his red, so very young eyes to meet the cold blue ones of his mentors. "What's wrong with the current world?" He asked.

Yuu chuckled disturbingly, and tousled the boy's hair roughly. "Everything, little King, everything."

**OoOoOoOoO**

The room was like one giant animal kennel, rows and rows of simple four wall cells made of a clear plastic of unreal strength. To save space, they had two stacked on top of one another, with aisles on the sides for the guards and scientists to walk along and peer in with cold, analytical eyes at the poor subjects.

In an empty hallway above, a huge window looked down into the room, and here Shu stood, watching. Haruka didn't want him coming here, and he understood why, which was why he stopped telling her he did.

Continuing searching for a substitute 'Adam' was sort of a moot point when Shu awakened, but since he, the true Adam, was available, they had figured why not see what his genetic code was capable of? Shuichiro had begun applying the Adam Gene to the subjects, to see if perhaps they could instead create some super human that might prove useful in the future.

On the one hand, the 'Adam' substitutes had originally been injected with the Apocalypse virus, often severely damaging their bodies and minds if not killing them outright. The Adam Gene was Shu's DNA after some minor tinkering, and often coupled with the virus in various doses. Since it was an experiment after all they were still figuring out what did what when applied to what. They had, however, found a few 'recipes' that appeared promising, and had as of late been applying them to the numerous children they had as the tests subjects.

They received mixed results.

The mutations caused included superhuman strength, durability, and a virus-like growth over parts of the body that would change shape, like weapons that were apart of their skin. Conscious mutation seemed a recurring factor among 'successful' subjects, those that did not retain a human form became virus beasts that seemed to be useful for little more than search-and-destroy.

It was an unsettling thought, knowing your genes were being used to create monsters. There was little Shu could do- he had no say in it- but he had come to his own decision to share in his creations pain, at least to a degree. And they were _his_ creations. They came from him, he felt responsible for them, and he was their master.

That was a title far more literal than anyone had realized in the beginning.

The former 'Adam' clones, now typically referred to as Gatherers, had no individuality to speak of. They weren't totally mindless sure, but once they were transformed they were no longer a person, and simply could not survive on their own. They could not 'think' anymore, if left alone they would not know what to do with themselves and would either wreak havoc or sit and let themselves die. That was why Shu had to think for them.

Through some sort of psychic resonance, Shu was able to act as a kind of hive mind for the Gatherers, program them for when he wasn't around to give direct orders, support their collective consciousness, which was really little more than instinct, and give them purpose.

It was a dirty job he did not appreciate, but it was his all the same. He could only be thankful that it wasn't something he had to do often, yet, given that the Gatherers were still in experimental phases and could not be let into the city for fear of attracting attention.

Deciding he'd enough of watching the soulless test subjects, Shu, expressionless, turned away from the nightmare below and left. The headquarters was big, but he had gotten used to navigating it these past two years, and located his special chamber easily.

It had once been where his crystal tomb had been located, where the Cocoon had once been was now a machine. It was big and throne-like, fitting for the King, cables connecting to it trailed off the raised dais and into the floor, the crystal remains of the Cocoon encompassing parts of it, making it seem ever larger and more sinister. The machines 'throne' tilted back somewhat, the back intricate in design, the pointed shape reminding him of the symbol of the Power of Kings, while the arm rests and bottom were thick with machinery.

When this device had been completed, Yuu had said it was a throne for a King, but Shu thought it was more of a cradle, since most of his time in it was spent dreaming, and so the Cradle it was.

Shu didn't really know the technical terms for it, but essentially it was a giant resonance broadcaster and power amplifier, using the Cradle, he could reach out to every scrap of virus in the city, probably further when he got older.

Mana was out there they had told him. Her soul had shattered when the virus lost control, and now, as Adam, he had to find the fragments of Eve and bring them back together.

It wasn't as easy as it sounded. Shu spent a lot of time in the Cradle, stretching his senses to ridiculous proportions, and it seemed as if he could just sense the barest hints of Mana all over the place, as if very crystal had personally come from her, but it was never her. He knew he was searching for fragments, and he was certain he would recognize one if he saw it, but otherwise he really wasn't sure what to look for.

What was a soul fragment supposed to be anyway? A sliver of energy? A living, sentient piece of her person? He didn't know what to expect.

Sighing, Shu stepped forward and sat in the Cradle, looking up apprehensively at the back of the chair towering above his head. He hoped he'd grow into it.

When he placed his arms the circular pads beneath his hands glowed softly, and lines not previously visible made themselves known all over the throne. The crystals that hugged the machine seemed to come to life, going from dull to flickering with light, and veins of red appeared all over the room, on the floors, walls, and ceiling, all converging at the Cradle. The device used a significant amount of energy and concentration, so to ensure that he wasn't disturbed, the room sealed itself upon activation, as far as he knew only Yuu could actively pull him out of a 'dive' as he normally called it.

Shu sighed and lay back, staring at the ceiling. As his eyes slowly slid closed, he vaguely wished he could see the stars again.

**OoOoOoOoO**

The little girl hurried down the street, eager to get to her destination. It was a warm evening, just after dinner, the sun at that perfect angle to cast a warm orange glow on everything.

A few cars drove past, a bird pecking at the cement dove into a flowerbed when she ran by, a biker waved to her as they passed. It was all so peaceful and mundane. It left a soft, near permanent smile of contentedness on her face. She was the picture of childish innocence and happiness.

A few more minutes of running, or what seemed like running to her short legs, and she reached her destination: a quaint playground nestled among the buildings of the city. Her mother had told her she could go to the playground if she promised to return before dark, which gave her perhaps an hour or two, but that was all she needed.

She didn't really know why, but she adored this playground. This little slice of elsewhere snuggled among the here. She treasured it like only a child could.

Eagerly, she ran over to the carousal, gripping a rail and running around it as fast as she could, which was admittedly not very fast at all, before leaping on and letting it run itself out. She did this a few times, holding onto the rail and leaning out, tilting her head back and watching the way the clouds rotated, seeing them from every angle. As she gradually came to a stop she stared at the sky some more, then tilted back even further to look at the rest of the playground, upside down.

Predictably, at this particular time, most children were at home, and the playground was empty. At least, it was supposed to be.

To her surprise, she saw one other, sitting on a swing, completely motionless. She stared for a moment, perplexed, before standing properly and venturing closer, observing the child while trying to look like she wasn't.

Her efforts hardly mattered; the boy didn't seem to be paying any attention to her whatsoever. Perching herself on a nearby slide, she studied him curiously.

He looked about her age, maybe a little older; he looked thin in his slightly-too-large black and white sweater. His hair was long and messy, brown a shade darker than hers. He simply sat there on the swing, clearly not using it for its intended purpose, hands on the chains, staring at the sky. She couldn't tell from a distance if he was simply thinking or if there was something in the sky that genuinely interested him.

She didn't really know why, but she wanted to talk to the boy, she found him curious. Going down the slide, she planted her feet in the grass and walked towards him. He must have heard her approach, but chose to ignore her, because when she walked up to him he didn't look at her. She decided to capture his attention.

"Hello."

He looked at her. His eyes were red. Very, very red. She thought it was pretty.

Those pretty eyes blinked at her, studied her for a moment, and he hesitated as if unsure how to respond to her greeting.

"…Hello." He got it out though. She smiled, happy he was at least humoring her.

"What are you doing?" She asked. She was surprising herself a little; she wasn't usually this bold when it came to strangers. Maybe it helped that this boy had an aura that drew her in, made her feel comfortable.

"I'm…" He looked thoughtful. "Waiting for the stars to come out."

Mildly surprised, she looked up at the setting sun, then back at him.

"I'm not sure they ever will," She informed him, somewhat apologetically. "Mommy says the city is too bright at night, and they get blocked out."

His hands seemed to tighten on the chains. "I don't care," He said stubbornly. "I'll wait anyway."

She frowned a moment, thoughtfully, then leaned down to look into his face where he had looked away.

"Is it okay if I wait with you then?" She asked. He seemed puzzled, but having no real reason to refuse her, nodded.

She sat on the swing beside his, swinging back and forth gently. "What's your name?" She asked after a time. He hesitated again, once again as if sorting through his options before he answered.

"Shu." He answered simply. No last name. She was okay with that.

"Nice to meet you, Shu," She smiled at him. "My name is Hare."

**OoOoOoOoO**_**  
**_

**_AN:_  
**

_...Bet I got you there didn't I? ;D_

_I figure this is an AU, so things are going to be all screwed up anyway, so why should't Shu be meeting some of the canon characters we all know and love? I wonder who else I can bring into this..._

_Read, review, suggest things, yell at me incomprehensibly, tell me about your deepest darkest secrets, GIVE ME A COOKIE DAMMIT, I'M SO DEPRIVED._

_MB_


	5. Connections

_**AN: **YAWN...I work so hard for you all. I hope you know that._

_So yes, work work work work...I finished a chapter. Yip-didi-doo-da. I can't think of anything to say right now. Oh well. Enjoy, and give me skittles. Like, now. Please._

_I Do Not Own Anything Remotely Connected To Guilty Crown ~~blibidy~blibidy~blah, etc. etc. etc._

_**GUILTY CROWN**_

_Connections_

_Shu had to get out. This place was going to drive him insane._

_He had finished his Cradle session for the day, had procured some more inconspicuous clothes, and now he just had to get the hell out of here. He didn't really care where he went, as long as it wasn't behind metal and glass and he could see the sky. It was fine he told himself, as long as he was back before he was missed._

_He peered around the next corner cautiously- the coast was clear. He took a few tiptoeing steps from the safety of the wall._

"_Where are you going, Shu?"_

_Or not._

_He cursed inwardly._

"_H-hey Haruka…" He turned to look at her with a nervous smile. His stepmother had her arms crossed and that look moms get when they know their kid is up to something._

"_Shu, you know you aren't allowed out of the headquarters." She told him. The preteen before her drooped pathetically._

"_But _moooom,_" He whined dramatically, startling her a bit. "I'm twelve! And I haven't been outside in five years! Isn't there some sort of law against that?" He threw his hands out exasperatedly. "I'm bored, I have no friends, and I never get to have fun. Can't I just go out for a little while? Just wander around? I promise I'll come back soon!"_

_Haruka sighed deeply. Admittedly she didn't really agree with coddling Shu either; he was a growing boy, and though he had already seen far too much for a child his age, he deserved at least a little normalcy in his life._

_She gave another heavy sigh, as if she were only giving in to appease him, rather than because she secretly agreed with his actions._

"_Oh, alright." She allowed, causing the boy to give a silent 'whoop' for joy. "But don't let anyone know you left, and don't stay out long, I want you back before it gets too late." She momishly set the rules, and he bobbed his head agreeably._

"_Yeah, uh-huh. Thanks mom!" He gave her a quick hug then took off down the hall at a speed only an excited child- and a genetically advanced one at that- could._

_Blinking in his metaphorical dust, Haruka couldn't help a small blissful smile cross her features._

"_He called me 'mom'…"_

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shu looked at the girl beside him, humming cheerily and swinging back and forth. "You really… don't have to sit here with me you know." He told her.

He didn't know why she was still here. It had been over an hour, and still she sat there, apparently unbothered by his lack of communication. This was probably the first thing he'd said to her since they'd exchanged names.

The girl- Hare- smiled at him again. It fascinated him that she was able to smile so easily, with such innocence and happiness, even over something as simple as him speaking.

"I know, but I want to." She said. Shu sighed inwardly, seeing he wasn't going to be getting rid of her just yet, and looked back at the sky.

When Hare had said they probably wouldn't be able to see the stars from here, he'd inwardly beat himself over the head with the logic of it. He was more than aware of that, but some silly, childish part of him wanted to deny it and stick around for something that would likely never happen anyway.

He tried to remember the sky at his old home by the sea, where he could always hear the sound of the ocean in the distance, and how he and Mana and eventually Triton would go outside and look at the stars. His hands clenched the chains of the swing a little harder- it was always easy to fall back into the reality of his life. And truthfully, it hurt.

Mana was gone, he searched for her all the time but was gradually losing hope he'd ever find her; and when he did, then what? After the agony they had both gone through at the Lost Christmas, he wanted nothing more than to make her smile again. Yuu kept telling him how the Fourth Apocalypse was their destiny, how through it, he would be making Mana happy. But Shu wasn't so sure. The sister he knew wouldn't wish harm on anyone, and he loathed the idea of becoming a monster for her sake only for her to be disgusted by him when she returned. That just defeated the purpose didn't it? He wanted her to be happy- and he wanted to be happy _with_ her.

He just wasn't sure how to do that.

Triton was- well Shu didn't really know. He had promised he would become stronger, and Shu believed in his friend's conviction, but that could mean a lot of things. Had he died sometime during his hibernation? Was Triton out doing something dangerous for the sake of the promise he made to Shu? Along with being worried over his safety, Shu couldn't help but feel so insanely _lonely_ without Triton. There were people around him all the time- admittedly he only interacted with a chosen few- but no one connected with him like Triton had.

There was no one around who he could talk to- someone who knew the whole story and could sympathize with his situation. The only people he really talked to were Haruka and Yuu and- on occasion- Shuichiro, but they didn't see things from his perspective, they expected or wanted things from him or _for_ him. It wasn't the same as someone who listened without their own goals clouding any possibly useful feedback.

Mana was gone, Triton was gone… ultimately the only person Shu could depend on was himself.

And that was a sad thing when you were only twelve.

He didn't know exactly what his desires for the future were, but he knew what he wanted in the short term.

He was aware there were complications; he knew his wishes could not be obtained through entirely ethical means. He also knew he was more than willing to shoulder these responsibilities that others- and himself- pushed upon his young shoulders.

Even if his innately kind nature suffered for it, he would not back down or shy away for the sake of those few, special people who he would give his life for.

He had to stand strong and move foreward, not sit around hoping for stars that would never appear.

_I have to go and find them, and if that doesn't work, make my own damn stars._

Because, really…what else could he do?

"Say, Hare… Do you live around here?"

It was a silly question- why would she be here otherwise?- but she nodded pleasantly all the same. And Shu managed a small smile at her; she was being awfully accepting of his somewhat uncouth manner.

"I'm…visiting my mother here, and I don't really know my way around. Would you mind showing me around a little?" He asked.

Hare's round face flushed a little, a mixture of surprise and delight it seemed, and nodded eagerly. "Sure, I'd love to!" She leapt up, only to stop herself and look back at him uncertainly. "But, didn't you want to wait for the stars to come out?"

He just smiled gently, as if he hadn't just gone through a gloomy inner monologue about his strange, somewhat depressing life. "I changed my mind." He said, a bit of mischief laced with his words. She seemed to accept this, and waiting for him to stand before she took off, excitement fueling her young legs. Shu couldn't help but smile with some amusement; she was a bundle of energy this girl. It made her rather endearing.

He followed at a more sedate pace, and Hare eventually returned to walk with him upon realizing she'd left him behind. That didn't stop her from walking in front of him, her speed only kept in check by the fact that she needed to be within polite speaking distance as she pointed things out as they walked down the street.

The area they were in was more on the residential, small odds-and-ends shops area, with the occasional office building thrown in. Considering the rapid advances in technology in the past few decades, and the Lost Christmas wreaking havoc only five years earlier, the district was peaceful and pleasant, mundane and ordinary in a safe, secure kind of way. It was late, but there were the occasional walkers, all unremarkable, content people out for a stroll or late shopping or some other menial task.

None seemed to find it strange that two children wandered the sidewalks, one a small girl in a pink dress, gesturing animatedly with a perpetual smile and one thin boy with calm red eyes and a soft smile as he listened to her talk. He was actually listening to Hare's steady flow of chatter, it was soothing and consisted of normal activities he hadn't been able to participate in himself for a while, thus evoking some genuine interest from him. In fact it had been so long since he had spoken to another individual like this or walked down an ordinary street that it was all suddenly new and fascinating to him. He hadn't talked to another child his age since Triton.

"Oh!" Hare was suddenly hopping up and down, grabbing his hand and dragging him across the street while pointing at a small shop. "Mr. Sazaki's is still open, let's go in!"

Shu didn't see the significance of the store, but he let her pull him along and moments later they entered, an old fashioned bell above the door tinkling cheerily. It was obvious to Shu the stores purpose: it was filled to the brim with musical instruments. The shop was thin, but deep, in the front window some gorgeous brass instruments were displayed, hung on the walls were all manner of small to medium string instruments, and in the back Shu could see a fully equipped drum set and piano among boxes and various instrument cases. A counter had somehow managed to squish itself on the right wall, and an elderly man looked up at their entrance; the shop was otherwise empty.

"Hare," The man, Mr. Sazaki if Shu had to make a guess, greeted kindly. "It's closing time soon, my dear, you'll have to make it quick." He said. Hare nodded, smiling that heartwarming smile of hers.

"Sure Mr. Sazaki, we won't take long." She turned back to her companion and pulled him towards the back of the store. "Come on, Shu!"

Mr. Sazaki smiled and went back to whatever it was he was doing while the two children situated themselves in the back. Hare climbed onto the bench before the huge, old-fashioned piano, and Shu placed himself beside her. She sighed happily as she ran her fingers over the ivory keys.

"I love coming here," She told him. "Mr. Sazaki lets me play with the instruments all I want, so long as I'm careful. I want to work in a place like this someday."

She pressed a few keys, listening to the notes ring, before she began to tap out a simple, pretty tune. Her hands looked so small and delicate spread over the keys, and she concentrated her gaze on them to make sure she didn't mess up. When the song ended she smiled proudly.

"You're really good, Hare." Shu said, returning her smile. She blushed at the compliment.

"My moms a lot better, I only know one song." She said modestly. "Do you want to try?"

Shu looked at the piano, lifted one hand uncertainly, and withdrew it. "I've never played before."

"That's okay," Hare assured him. "It's easy, you just press on the keys and decide your own tune."

He heard this, but failed to act on it, still gazing at the piano as if it were a puzzle and he was attempting to figure it out using only his eyes. When he didn't make any move towards it, Hare gripped his wrist and manually lifted his hand onto the keyboard, pressing a clump of keys all at once, the sound like the disgruntled growl of a beast. Shu was somewhat startled, by the sound or Hare's determination to get him to participate, he wasn't sure, but he looked at her in mild confusion all the same.

Her smile was, once again, almost painfully innocent. "See, it's easy."

It really was.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shuichiro was, for once, not in his usual stiff and formal pose, his expression carefully neutral and blank. No, right now he stood with his weight a little to one side, his elbow in his hand and his fist to his cheek, his brow slightly wrinkled in deliberation, his mustache a little bristled as he shifted his lips in thought. He stood there staring at the screens before him, information flashing about in some places and firmly displayed in others. If this was what he thought it was, and after checking the information and calculating it several times, he was quite certain it was, then he could have a problem.

How…annoying.

The first crisis was how exactly he was going to word this news. If it seemed like he had ulterior motives it would cause needless complications, specifically for him. Perhaps the blunt truth would be the best way to go.

"Something interesting, Shuichiro?"

He sighed internally. Yuu always seemed to turn up at exactly the right- or wrong- times.

He believed the term was, 'speak of the devil'.

"I was about to get you," The man said, unperturbed by the youth manifesting from thin air. "I believe I have found the answer to our setback."

"Oh?" Yuu stood beside him and peered at the screens. "How so?"

"So far we have only managed to find two fragments of Mana, seemingly trapped within people at that, and even with the Cradle the others have been near impossible to locate." Shuichiro gestured to the far right screen, which displayed a picture of a Void beside a grey animation of DNA. "From our tests, the fragments were spread throughout the virus, which in turn, manifests in Voids."

Yuu made a pleased sound. "Mm, the safest place for a 'heart' is with another 'heart', Eve's soul has latched itself onto the Voids of people throughout Tokyo. This does not explain why Adam is unable to get decent readings from them, they ought to be calling out to him, not hiding themselves."

Shuichiro nodded. "After the Lost Christmas, Mana's soul shattered and the pieces sought sanctuary. Like Shu, what remains of her has entered a kind of 'sleep', as long as she is like this her fragments are virtually undetectable unless Shu were standing right next to it."

"Hmm, that is a problem." Yuu said, his pose similar to Shuichiro's previous one. "We'll have to do something about that. Any suggestions?"

"Actually, I do have one…"

"Don't keep it all to yourself."

Shuichiro cast the youth a look before looking away from the mischievous blue eyes and going on. "We cannot cause the Fourth Apocalypse without Mana, but with Shu, we may be able to cause a second, smaller outbreak, a resonance just strong enough to awaken the sleeping fragments so we may retrieve them."

Yuu was silent for a moment, then, to the man's surprise, nodded with a small sound of confirmation before spinning on his heel and walking away.

"Good good," The youth said over his shoulder. "Adam isn't quite ready for something of that magnitude, but we have all the time in the world. You should get started on that then, Shuichiro."

And he was gone.

Shuichiro stared after him; he hadn't expected the Gravekeeper to accept his proposal so readily. Perhaps he had already been expecting it and so was prepared? Whatever it was, he wasn't sure he'd ever find out, and it hardly mattered anyway.

How long would it take to build a resonance broadcaster of that size, he wondered.

Yuu, on the other hand, reappeared just inside the Moving room, placed his hands on his hips, and looked up.

Shu sat on the pillar directly before him, feet hanging over the edge, chin propped on his hands and staring downward, not really seeing.

"Adam," He called. He received no response. He wondered if the boy knew he had noticed him returning to the base, and was dreading being punished. The youth did his teleporting trick and reappeared behind the boy, who still seemed to ignore his presence.

"Adam~" He bent down so his head was just above the child's, looking at him from the side. Shu suddenly looked up at him, red eyes big and innocent.

"Yuu, can I learn to play piano?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

_Everything was on fire._

_The Christmas tree was burning, a nightmarish parody of the happiness it was supposed to represent. The sight of it horrified him._

_The entire ground was red, hellish red, like blood._

_Like her eyes had been._

_Like his eyes._

_There was some kind of screeching in his ears, a high pitched ringing that grated on him like no normal sound could. It rang and rang and rang. It was painful, and he covered his ears with his hands, but it didn't help._

_He wanted to scream for it to stop, but he couldn't make a sound._

_He curled in on himself, cowering from the sound, but it surrounded him, pounding on him mercilessly._

_**Go away.**_

_It was so loud._

_**Go away.**_

_Shards of crystal were littered around him. He thought he saw a figure, silhouetted by the flames. He couldn't make anything out beyond long, billowing hair._

_It hurt._

_**Go away go away go away go away go away GO AWAY!**_

_He wanted to cry, but no tears came out._

It's okay.

_He looked up into red eyes._

_The ringing stopped._

_The fire faded._

_The floor vanished._

_It was just them now._

_**Mana?**_

_She smiled at him. That was all he ever wanted. Her smile._

_She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She felt solid and warm and _alive_._

_**Mana…**_

_The tears still wouldn't come. He hugged her back._

_**I'm sorry, Mana.**_

_She didn't say anything, but her hand stroked his hair soothingly. Her voice emanated from everywhere like the ringing, but it wasn't painful or hideous, it was calm and serene._

_She was singing wordlessly, and it was beautiful._

_Heartbreakingly beautiful._

_He listened for what felt like an eternity. The song never seemed to end, and he would have gladly spent another eternity listening to it._

_**I love you, Mana.**_

_She didn't answer again, but through her singing, he thought she was answering back._

I love you, too…Shu.

_The tears finally came._

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_So...do you feel mind-screwed yet? I kind of do._

_Read, review, suggest, yammer on and on pointlessly, give me your car keys, whatever. :P_

_MB_


	6. Fragment

_**AN: **Fwa...thing. Chapter. Story. Yeah._

_Once again I feel as if there could be improvement... but frankly we're starting to get into the good stuff and I'm just blazing through this, and I'm in no mood to slow down for anything more than a read-through for grammar errors and such. That being said I have found myself swapping things around a bit, but truly, it's all coming along swimmingly._

_Suddenly I'm worried what I'm going to do when I get to the end of my outline. I've gotten to a certain point (about chapter 18) and haven't gotten any further, so I worry when and how I'm going to be wrapping this up. Oh well, it's a little early for that any way. My story, my time frame. :P_

_I Do Not Own Guilty Crown, because my crown is not guilty, so...yeah._

_Moving on._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Fragment_

Haruka gave him a clip for his birthday. It was small and red and made of some sort of crystalline material. He'd originally worn it on the collar of his coat, but when his hair started getting a little _too_ in the way he used it to create a tiny pony tail from the top half of his hair. Most of the time he forgot it was even there, but when he needed something to concentrate on, or calm himself, its weight against the back of his head was comforting.

He needed it right now as he made his way through headquarters, the white suited Daath followers falling over each other to prostrate themselves as he passed. He'd gotten good at ignoring them.

Self-consciously, he brushed the fingers of his left hand over the back of his right. Yuu had said if he were meant to have the Power of Kings, he'd have it, and well… He did. Sort of.

It looked like the Power of Kings but at the same time…not.

It had manifested almost out of the blue, he'd drawn a Void from one of the followers during Yuu's training session, and no one had been more surprised than he was. However, the symbol that had appeared looked different; rather than the pointed cross shape he was familiar with, on Shu's symbol there was another, extra pair of cross pieces, longer and just below the normal ones.

Shu wasn't sure what this meant, he'd never had this ability before so he wasn't sure what it was supposed to feel like, maybe his was just stylized. Yuu didn't seem to think so, and had gotten this thoughtful, frighteningly considerate look on his face before ending the lesson and telling Shu he'd call for him later.

That was the day before yesterday.

Now here he was, heading towards what he knew to be the experimental part of the facility, long black coat fluttering in his wake.

He immediately brushed past the follower standing outside the door of the given destination, briefly noticing the man stop breathing when he went past. It was kind of pathetic the way some of the people here reacted to him- at fourteen he was still a child compared to most of them- and kind of amusing at the same time. It was rib-breakingly funny when people both worshiped you and were scared stiff of you.

There were only four people in the room, to Shu's surprise- not because there were so few but because there was a fourth person at all. The first three were the usual suspects: Yuu, as the same as he'd been for just about ever, Shuichiro, completely grey by now, and Haruka, who smiled at him. The fourth person he didn't know, but they looked perhaps his age, sitting in a chair with their wrists shackled to the armrests. They hung their head and didn't look up when he entered the room.

"What's going on?" The teen asked, forgoing any greetings as he stepped closer. No one took any offense.

"Adam," Yuu said pleasantly, beckoning. "We have a test here for you- well, more of an experiment."

Shu raised an eyebrow, standing beside his mentor. His gaze was drawn to the person shackled to the chair; now that he was closer they seemed vaguely familiar.

"I have a hunch," Yuu continued. "That power of yours may not be just the power to touch peoples hearts, but the power to touch…" He seemed to search for the right word, or perhaps he was just pausing for dramatic effect. It might've been both. "_Her_."

Shu couldn't help being slightly surprised, and realized somewhere in his head that the reason this person seemed familiar was because they were one of few he had sensed a fragment of Mana from. The number he had located was only a handful, but the Anti-Bodies had been spying on them so they might be retrieved when a method of extraction was determined. They must have brought this person here under false-accusations of infection or something equally ludicrous.

He looked at Yuu, as if for confirmation; the Gravekeeper just smirked, watching him with expectant, cool eyes. He glanced at Haruka, who gave him a little encouraging nod. Finally, his gaze returned to the helpless person before him, and he mentally swallowed.

He'd been forced to do a lot of growing up in the past few years, but this power was so new and alien to him; the fact that he was expected to just blindly test it out on some unfortunate civilian was… disconcerting to say the least.

Exhaling, Shu lifted his right hand, the intricate black symbol flaring obediently.

"Remember, _just_ the fragment." Yuu murmured behind him. He walked around and grabbed the person by their hair, lifting their head so dull brown eyes were visible. Yuu mentioned to him that as his power grew, looking into people eyes to use the power would become unnecessary; he hoped that would be soon.

Their chest glowed with white light, centered just above their heart in a pure white oval. A pale blue circle appeared below them and Shu narrowed his eyes, trying to feel a difference between the drawing of a Void and the drawing of a fragment. He'd rather get this right on the first try.

_I'm not touching this person's heart,_ He thought. _I only want the fragment, nothing more._

He began to reach forward, but hesitated. He didn't think he was doing it right, somehow. What he wanted was the fragment, but how could he make his power understand that?

_I shouldn't be thinking of this like a King_. He realized_. I should be thinking of this like Adam._

Mana. Eve. That was what he ought to be concentrating on; this power wasn't that of the King, to touch the hearts of others, it was of Adam, solely to touch the heart of _Eve_.

The blue circle changed color, instead glowing a deep, eerie red. Shu reached forward without hesitation, his hand disappearing into the person's chest, a soft sound of pain escaping their lips. It was something that defied the laws of science, his hand disappearing into a space that shouldn't exist, but there it was. His arm was in up to his elbow before he stopped, imagining grasping what he was after in his hand, feeling that he had succeeded, and pulled back.

The glows faded, Yuu dropped the person's head and they let it hang there limply, perhaps slipping into unconsciousness after what they had just endured.

Shu looked at his hand with nothing short of awe; there nesting in his palm was a pale pink sphere, no bigger than a baseball, with a core of burning red and white.

He couldn't take his eyes off it. It was pleasantly warm in his hand, pulsing occasionally and sending a gentle shock through his arm. It wasn't just that that made him… he would go so far as to say _attracted_ to it. It felt familiar, precious, and he was suddenly very aware of the fact that this was _a piece of Mana._

It was only one little fragment, but he could already feel her within it, and he felt a tiny smile itching at his lips.

_I'm coming for you, Mana._

He knew he could now.

The others in the room were looking similarly amazed, though some more subdued than others. Yuu suddenly popped over his shoulder, gazing at the sphere with hungry eyes.

"Brilliant, Adam! Thoroughly awe-inspiring." He praised. "What do you think, Shuichiro? Brilliant isn't it?"

The man didn't acknowledge the youth's delighted needling, and after looking at the sphere for longer than Shu was comfortable with, looked directly at him for what was honestly one of few times ever.

"Well done," He said evenly. "See that you put this power to good use, _Adam_." With those words of encouragement, he turned swiftly and left the room.

Shu blinked in honest surprise, and Yuu snickered maniacally.

"I do think he just complimented you, Adam." He informed him, patting his shoulder mockingly. "So, I believe we have officially determined the nature of this power. Not merely the power to touch the hearts of your subjects, but that of your destined partner, surely this is on a whole new level, this power, the…" He grinned widely, spreading his hands in dramatic emphasis. "The Power of Adam."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shu extracted three more fragments that day, all from people similar to the first: young, drugged, and captured simply for the thing they unknowingly harbored to be removed in a rather unorthodox fashion. Yuu had seemed inclined to simply dump them into the testing facilities, or heck, kill them on the spot, but Shu had insisted they be returned to their homes with some doctored story about their arrest being a false alarm or something. It's not like they would remember what had been done to them anyway.

He had personally seen the fragments to their new home, some sort of demented pod Shuichiro had helped build- it looked more like a cage to him. Still, it was the safest place for them, and Shu had watched as the four spheres had taken to each other like bubbles of the same soap, combining into one triple sized globe.

When he turned to leave, he saw Haruka waiting at the bottom of the ridiculous amount of steps leading up to the pod. He almost walked past her when the way she looked at him made him stop. It wasn't necessarily the way a mother looks at her son, but much more like the way one human being regards another. It was too bad he wasn't sure he could be considered entirely human.

"Do you know what you're doing, Shu?" She asked, her eyes steady, her expression not quite a smile of understanding, more like a smile of consideration. He raised a cool brow.

"Do you?"

Her smile seemed to widen, sweet and resigned. "I asked first."

"If you want out, all you have to do is say so." He said. It was the truth, she was not tied here like he was, family or not, she had far more of a choice. Her expression took on a little bit of motherly scolding.

"Shu." She said sternly. He sighed.

"I know what I'm doing, I know it so well in fact, I could recite every little detail of the worlds demise in my sleep. Right down to the expressions of the people when they all explode into crystal."

Her eyes slid downwards, the corners of her mouth failing in their endeavor to stay up. "Is that what you want?" She asked quietly.

He opened his mouth, closed it, and sighed again, running a hand through his messy bangs. "Haruka," She looked up. "I've thought long and hard about what I want, mainly because for the longest time, I was wondering myself. And because despite being a key player in all of this, that was the one thing no one thought to ask."

He turned and looked at the pod- the cage- where the small, incomplete soul of his sister floated peacefully. His voice was soft, contemplative. "I wondered for so long, pondering over what was right, what was wrong. I asked myself if I was okay with killing the entire world, even if it meant creating it anew, 'better' as everyone keeps telling me." He released a soft breath. "It was naïve of me to think the world is all good, that no one deserved the fate I was- am- being pressed to enact upon them. Even so, I didn't believe that to be right, good or bad I have no desire to see the world destroyed. It occurred to me that what was right hardly mattered, this is _my_ fate, even if I never asked for it."

Shu turned to look at his stepmother again, his eyes were soft, but his gaze was determined. He had made his resolution, and was going to stick by it. "To put it frankly, I've decided to screw right and wrong, and be selfish for a change. I don't care so much about the world, all I want… all I want is to be with the people I care about."

His voice faded into the vastness of the room, he looked away and closed his eyes as he said it; completely prepared for her to tell him what a bastard this made him. He wasn't so prepared when he felt her hug him, arms wrapping around his shoulders and squeezing him against her body. It almost reminded him of his rebirth- his stepmother's teary smile being the first thing he had registered upon returning to the world.

"You're taking this better than I thought you would." He murmured, returning her hug gently.

"Never underestimate your opponent, boy." Haruka warned mildly. The teasing left her voice however as she continued. "It's not bad to be selfish, Shu; everyone does it, myself included. We aren't perfect beings, not even you. To want the most for ourselves does not make us evil, even if the rest of the world must die for it. Some people consider it the 'right' thing to give up their life for others, for a greater cause, but that doesn't make that one life worth any less. It's entirely up to us to choose how we want to live." She backed up so she was holding him by his shoulders, looking into his eyes, within them a great clashing of the insecurities and dreams of youth, and the wisdom and weariness of age he should not have possessed. Her smile was sad, but accepting as she placed a hand on his cheek.

"You don't deserve being shackled to this fate, Shu. If I could have one wish, it would be for you to grow up a normal boy."

"But this _is_ my fate." He said, pointedly. Her smile was crooked.

"And you've made the most of it, making your own choices whenever you can. Don't forget you have that freedom, to make your own decisions." She reached up and patted his cheeks. "I will never forsake anything you do, my son. I'm always here for you."

The sincerity in her voice and the gentle affection in her eyes was so real Shu couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks, mom."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Sneaking out had become something of a habit. Shu was almost certain that Yuu knew about his little escapades and was deliberately ignoring it either out of some twisted affection, or because he was hoping his encounters in the outside world would make him more willing to destroy it all. With Yuu, it was always hard to tell. It could easily be either.

Even with the unofficial-allowance of his caretaker, he tried to keep his expeditions to a minimum, since people tended to react badly when their prophetic leader to a new age disappears for hours at a time.

Right now was one of those times when he just had to get out. It had been awhile since he'd last left the dim and artificially lighted halls of the headquarters, and he was starting to think it'd too long since he'd last seen the sun as he found himself speed walking through the corridors. In the back of his mind he was glad he had taken to wearing a relatively normal looking coat instead of the fancy Daath style thing he was originally made to wear, since he really didn't want to take the time to change into something more conspicuous.

It might have been because he was in such a hurry that he bulldozed into someone else, coming around a corner. It was mainly his keen sense of balance- perfected after many a training lesson- that kept Shu on his feet; the other person wasn't so lucky.

"Ack! Sorry!" They- a boy by the sound of it- cried almost immediately as something crashed to the floor in the background.

Shu rocked on his heels a little, blinking, and looked down. A boy his age in a looser, toned down version of the follower uniform was scrambling to gather what appeared to be a bunch of small silver instruments that had allegedly fallen from the box that sat beside him. The boy seemed to be so immersed in scooping up the little devices that he had completely neglected to so much as glance in Shu's direction. This was all informative in a way, but the teen decided to leave judgments for a later time.

Taking pity on the boy, who in his haste was having a hard time rounding up all the little doo-dads, Shu knelt down and began plucking them off the floor as well.

"My apologies, I wasn't looking where I was going." He said, depositing a few of the thingie-ma-bobs into the box. The boy seemed to physically tense up before daring to look in his direction, as if he was startled at being directly addressed. When he looked into Shu's calm red eyes he jumped a little and quickly went back to clearing of the instruments.

"U-uh it's fine, it's my fault for trying to close a box and walk at the same time, really." He insisted. Shu caught sight of a loose metal band around the boys neck- a test subject. No wonder he was nervous. The only times people talked to him was probably to give him orders or to ask some derogatory question regarding any recent mutation.

Shu studied the boy a bit more thoroughly: thin and lanky, pale from lack of sunlight, short black hair framing a tired face and hollow, dark blue eyes. He had a kind of curl to his lip and wrinkle in his brow that Shu had seen in people who had a lot to say, but were constantly stopping themselves from doing so, often because they had been taught it would only make things worse.

"Hey, what's your name?" Shu asked, startling the boy with his rather random question. He was probably wondering why he, someone who was clearly not a lowly test-subject, even cared. After a moment of staring at him, likely trying to deduce some ulterior motive, the boy relented.

"Alio." He said, adding on with a little bitterness, as if he resented it, "Just Alio."

Shu smiled a little, feeling pleased for no real reason, and helped Alio scoop the last of the devices into their box and stood up while the other boy balanced the thing in his arms.

"You're a test subject right?" Shu asked, having the decency not to point at the band- a collar more accurately.

The boy nodded, a twist in his lip suggesting some comment on it that he clearly restrained. "Uh-huh."

As far as Shu knew, Shuichiro had changed the experimenting procedure so that instead of just taking orphan boys, strapping them to a table, injecting some scary things into them and hoping for the best, now that they had found some suitable formulas for Gatherers they were taking the time to train test subjects, building up their bodies and minds in a number of ways to increase the quality of the things they were creating. It was like some kind of demented school, and failing students were completely open to being put to use elsewhere, which was why Alio, Shu guessed, was here running strange deliveries around the headquarters.

Though he was able to deduce this, Shu had no intention of pointing it out; it didn't strike him as a very good first impression to go telling someone they're a failure before you even know them. Instead, he just gave a small, pleasant smile that seemed to catch the boy off-guard.

"Good luck then, Alio."

And he meant it.

He and the boy went their separate ways, Shu resuming his quick walk to pseudo-freedom, and Alio to whatever duty had been dumped on him that afternoon.

As Shu made his way out he found himself thinking, with a certain degree of wry amusement, of how Alio had kind of reminded him of Triton.

**OoOoOoOoO**

She saw him through the window of her classroom.

He was balancing on a short wall, looking for all the world like he was supposed to be there, and she stared at him incredulously for a full minute before he suddenly turned to look right at her.

He waved.

Her face turned crimson and her jaw unhinged itself, leaving her gaping like a fish. He smiled and held a finger to his lips, and her jaw snapped shut. He beckoned- he wanted her to follow him. She looked between him and her teacher, who didn't appear to notice she was playing charades with someone outside the classroom, and made an emphasized pointing-gesture at her teacher and classroom in general.

Her implied message didn't seem to hold a whole lot of strength, because he held up his hand and very deliberately crooked a finger. Finally, sighing as silently as her exasperation allowed, she nodded and tapped her watch- the important part of class was almost over anyway.

He smiled again and nodded, waving again before he jumped from the wall and took off, disappearing behind the buildings corner.

Within the next ten minutes she was able to get excused from class using some lame explanation that the teacher didn't seem to think was very odd, though some of her friends gave her inquiring looks. She avoided the eyes of her classmates as she scooped her things into her bag and hurried from the room, breaking into a light jog once she was down the hall. She left the school without even taking the time to check out, and it had slipped her mind to begin with. It was funny how one boy made her act so differently from the polite, straight-laced girl she was, but it was because she was so good all the time that she could get away with this every once and a while. He had never actually come to her school before in the few times they had gotten together.

It was because she saw him so little that she treasured the time she spent with him, and considered him a dear friend. He had once called her strange, thinking so much of him when she saw him so little. She had told him that it wasn't the amount of time spent with someone that made them your friend, it was the impact they made on you. Even people who had known each other for only an hour could be the most trusted of companions by the end of that short time if they truly managed to connect, she had told him. He had smiled and seemed to give up on arguing with her. Or maybe he just decided she was right.

She didn't see anyone when she excited the school, but this didn't alarm her, and she immediately took off down the street. There was only one place he could possibly be after all.

When she reached the playground, he was where she had expected him to be- on the swing. Unlike the still, silent boy he had been when she first met him, currently he stood on the swing, holding tightly to the chains as he moved the thick piece of rubber around with his feet. She walked over to him with a smile, depositing her bag beside a supporting pole and leaning against it.

"Good afternoon, Shu." She greeted benevolently. "It's been a while."

The teen stopped his movement to look down at her and smile. "Hey, Hare. Sorry I haven't been around lately." He apologized, giving her a somewhat sheepish smile. "If it helps, I missed you."

The girl blushed and looked away from his honest eyes. He was always so blunt about everything. "I m-missed you, too." And that's why she could never be less than honest with him.

He smiled and a comfortable silence passed between them. Hare had come to realize that their relationship was not one based on similar interests or even personalities. In fact neither of them knew a whole lot about the other's personal life besides things Hare had mentioned in passing. Shu never spoke about his home life.

It didn't really matter to either of them- Shu didn't talk a whole lot and Hare talked all the time, but she was considerate enough not to ask any probing questions. They had little in common but they both sincerely enjoyed the other's company. Just being in each other's presence seemed to have a calming effect on both of them, and many a time were their meetings passed in companionable silence.

Sometimes one of them would bring up some topic, whatever snippet of something they were currently chewing over, speaking their thoughts aloud for some outside input. Like now for example.

"Hare… what do you think of the world?"

"What do I think…of the world?" She repeated thoughtfully. She didn't bother to ask why, since it hardly mattered- it was an honest question, if a little vague. The nice thing about vagueness however, was it gave her the right to be vague, and interpret the question however she wanted.

"I think…" She gave some serious thought to her answer; it didn't have to be the best, only truthful. "I love the world."

"…Really?" He sounded almost surprised. "Why?"

"Because," She said, turning to him with a smile. "It's ugly."

He wrinkled his brow, not comprehending. "I think I'm missing something here."

She giggled a little. "The world is ugly, but it is beautiful, and I love it for that." She clarified, voice steady, confident. "That is what I think."

Shu seemed to accept that, although his mouth twisted in deliberation over her response. He turned away, and she almost wondered if her answer hadn't been what he'd hoped for when he looked down at her with a crooked smile.

"I can't stay long I'm afraid. I'm not really supposed to be here at all, but I wanted to come see you again, even if only for a little bit." He admitted. Hare tried to appreciative.

"That's okay, thank you for coming to see me."

"Before I go, there's something I wanted you to hear." He hopped down from the swing and turned so he was facing her. "It's…a song. My song, actually; I came up with it with a little help from an anonymous source."

Hare nodded and smiled sweetly. "I'd love to hear it, Shu."

He smiled back and closed his eyes, taking a few breaths. Then he started to whistle.

It wasn't like any whistling Hare had ever heard; every note was as smooth and pure as any instrument, if not more. There was hardly a pause between each note, making it seem like he wasn't stopping for breath at all.

And it _echoed_. There was a constant, whispering undertone to it that gave it unbelievable depth, an echo that seemed to occur inside her head, seeing there was no way for it to echo outside it. It was slow and steady and sweet, and she found herself transfixed by the songs beauty.

A lullaby. It sounded like a lullaby.

"It's so pretty." She murmured, smiling softly, eyes closed in bliss.

She would've listened to it forever, had Shu not abruptly stopped, his last note fading into the air, breaking her from her trance. It hadn't seemed that the song was finished, and she opened her eyes to look at him in askance, but he suddenly smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry." He said.

And she was engulfed in red light.

The next few moments were a blur for her, but she felt a brief pain in her chest, the world tilted on its axis as her legs weakened beneath her. She didn't fall; she felt a firm arm around her shoulders, lowering her gently to the ground. Darkness crept around the edges of her vision.

Red eyes floated above her.

"Shu…"

He smiled at her again; it was sad, kind, and beautiful.

"I'm sorry." He said again. "I'm not going to be around for a while. You won't have to worry about me anymore."

Sadness pooled in her chest. She didn't like those words, they sounded too much like a goodbye. She reached up a weak hand, her fingers only making it to his jaw line before falling again.

"Don't go away, Shu…" She pleaded. He didn't say anything. The darkness was overwhelming her. She sighed softly.

"Can I hear… the rest of your song…?" She asked instead.

When he smiled this time, it was gentle and affectionate. He gave her a squeeze.

"Sure."

He started whistling again, and Hare's eyes gradually slipped shut, a soft smile on her face. When the song ended, Shu laid her down on the grass, her school bag as a pillow, and kissed her forehead.

"Sweet dreams, Hare."

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_OMIGOD. O-o_

_Is that an OC I see in there? Tell me I didn't...I did. Scary isn't it?_

_This one came out a lot longer than I meant it to be, it looked so short in summary on my outline, but by the time I'd finished the first two parts I was already at four pages. I considered cutting it down, but in the end decided it hardly mattered, and I wanted to get all this stuff out into the air by the end of this chapter. _

_So, where are we going next I wonder...? Canada? Italy? My sock drawer? SHU's sock drawer? Say it ain't so, say it ain't so..._

_Read. Review. Suggest. Why the hell am I repeating this? What do you mean broken record? I feel fine thank you very much._

_MB_


	7. Sing

**_AN:_**_Yup. Chapter. Brilliant. I normally don't post a chapter until I've finished the chapter AFTER it, that way I know I can keep up with regular updates, but in this case, chapter 8 has been giving me attitude and I feel like I've made you all wait long enough. Just proves how considerate I am towards you guys._**  
**

_So yeah, here it is. Guess who's in this one? Why don't you go find out..._

_I Own Nothing That Is Guilty or Crown, since I am neither guilty(you can't prove anything!) neither do I have a crown(unfortunately)._

_Onward..._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Sing_

Shu had stopped thinking that it was only about the Apocalypse. That was a significant part of it sure, but that wasn't all.

Now… now it was about domination. Power. Shuichiro, if not Yuu, wanted to dominate the world before he watched it fall apart. Why? Who knew. Maybe he was just a control freak, maybe he felt the world had wronged him somehow, or maybe he was just hoping he might have a chance to play god for a while before he too died off like the bug he was.

It was just this kind of thinking that told Shu he was turning into a pessimist.

_Well it takes one to know one I suppose…_ He thought wryly, looking down at the city spread out below him.

About a week ago, Yuu had approached him with a proposal for a… he was calling it a "ceremony". In order to awaken the dormant fragments, scattered throughout Tokyo, Shu needed to cause a resonance with them. This resonance, he said, would mainly affect Voids and fragments, but would in fact cause new virus growth- basically a small, controlled outbreak in the city alone for the purpose of gathering the fragments.

That didn't really change the fact that he would be condemning a fair number of people to death with this action.

And_ that_ didn't really change the fact that he was still doing it.

"_Whenever you're ready, Shu. The broadcaster is all set."_ Haruka's voice said softly in his ear.

Shu sighed and looked down from the top of the Tokyo Tower, the wind biting at his cheeks. He didn't respond and Shuichiro too made use of the wireless communication, clearly impatient.

"_Anytime now, boy._"

Shu scowled almost reflexively, but was saved from responding by Haruka.

"_Yes, we all know you aren't getting any younger, brother. Think of it this way- you don't have to worry about getting any more grey hairs._"

The teen smiled a little and addressed the two before they got into one of few, but quite infamous arguments. "It's fine, I'm ready. Try not to say anything unless it's an absolute emergency, I'd rather not cause half the city to implode on accident."

There was a soft agreement from Haruka and some dark mutter from Shuichiro, but they knew their jobs, and that was enough for him.

Shu took a deep breath.

_I'm doing this._

He closed his eyes.

_But I'm doing it my way._

He started to whistle.

It wasn't like the song he did for Hare, or even the one he sometimes hummed to himself that he had heard Mana singing in his dreams. It was in it's own category entirely. Still the same smooth, echoing notes that pierced through normal sounds right into your brain, still the same immeasurable depth and almost hypnotizing quality. The tune itself was quite different though- it was dark and eerie, some kind of sadness and spiteful emotion implied through the dark low notes and intense high ones.

Where the other song was a peaceful lullaby, this was a mordant requiem.

Considering it was the bearer of inevitable death and chaos, it was almost comical how it still possessed a dark beauty to it.

With the help of the resonance broadcaster, the song was spread over all of Tokyo and its latent powers brought to life. Every person for miles around could hear it within their heads, all around them, stopping every one in their tracks as they looked to the sky with a strange mix of confusion and fascination.

The Tower glowed with the energy, red rings floated around the top, sending out the occasional pulse over the city as the song spread its corruption.

It took a few minutes before he started hearing the faint sounds of panic from the streets below, as people suddenly broke out in cancerous purple crystals. People screamed and ran around like headless chickens, the sky twisting a purplish grey.

Shu ignored all of it.

He concentrated on his song, using the spread of energy to stretch his own senses, resonating with every Void his song reached. In places he could feel the familiar presence of Mana, her fragments appearing on his psychic radar one after the other, revealing themselves to him at last. They seemed eager, and he felt them responding to him. He felt _Mana_ responding to his song.

When he deemed it enough, he stopped whistling, and simply stood, listening.

"_Resonance successful, fragment awakening complete. We have what we came for, return to base immediately, Shu._" Shuichiro's voice said. The teen nuzzled his chin further into his scarf- it was pretty chilly up here.

"_It's best if you return now, Shu."_ Haruka's voice agreed, more gently. "_GHQ forces will be swarming the city soon to deal with the masses, you aren't safe at the Tower._"

Shu sighed, looking down at the moving specks of people, wailing or scrambling around in the streets. The city was darker than before- the outbreak seemed to have cut off a number of power lines.

"I'm going to go explore." He said, in the kind of way that declared he would do it whether they agreed or not.

Predictably, there was some incredulous sputtering from both of them, and Shuichiro very coldly attempted to tell him he was _not_ about to wander off into the city before the young Adam interrupted him.

"I don't recall you ever being the boss of me, Shuichiro. If it's my life you're concerned about, then I must say I'm surprised you care, if it's my value and Yuu's possible wrath then you ought not to worry; I can handle myself in a city infested with a virus that obeys my every command, and if Yuu asks, blame it all on me and you'll be fine. Probably. Haruka, just trust me, all right? I want to see the results of my power for myself." Once he had that all clarified, he switched off his communicator before either of them had the chance to argue, but left on the tracker since he figured turning it off as well would be pushing it more than he already was.

Stepping to the edge of the platform, he peered out at the city once more, sighed, and stepped right off the edge.

**OoOoOoOoO**

He'd never been very good at hide-and-seek. Maybe because as a kid, there weren't a whole lot of other kids to play it with, and he never got much practice. Even so, he was pretty proud of this hiding spot- none of those infected had found him yet.

The outbreak had begun a while ago, maybe a few hours, give or take, and though the initial people-sprouting-crystals time had stopped soon after it began, the aftermath was taking a long time to sort out. The city had abruptly dissolved into chaos, power was out, vehicles were crashed or abandoned, people who weren't lying around whimpering with the cancer crawling over their bodies were either hiding for fear of running into someone who was infected- like he was- or lost somewhere between hysteria and insanity.

In the panic, a lot of things had been broken, and he had managed to climb into a busted shop window and seclude himself towards the back, in a small storage room full of boxes and dust. He'd considered looking elsewhere after he went through several tissues by sneezing uncontrollably for a few minutes, but the moaning of the infected outside kept him rooted in place.

Sighing heavily, he curled up and leaned his chin on his knees.

"What a crappy day." He muttered darkly, blowing a blonde hair from his eyes.

"You don't say? I thought it was going pretty good before everything went purple."

He almost leapt from his skin when another voice responded to his words, and turned wildly in the direction of the voice, relaxing minutely when he saw the new arrival wasn't infected. The girl, no older than eleven or twelve by his guess, smirked at him.

"Hi! Do you mind if I hide here too? There's some creepy guys out there, and this looks pretty safe." She asked, gesturing to his dim little cave. After blinking at her in shock for a moment, his surprise turned to annoyance.

"Hell no, go find your own hiding spot, you probably have germs." He shot her down, scooting away from her to enunciate. She puffed up her cheeks in defiance, putting her hands on her tiny hips.

"I do not! I took a bath this morning, and I even carry hand sanitizer, so there!" She stuck out her tongue at him, then sat herself down adjacent to him with her back to a huge stack of boxes. She crossed her arms and huffed. "Anyway I'm staying, and you can't do anything about it. You'll just have to bear with me."

He scowled, but said nothing. Fine: if she wanted to stay, she could, so long as she didn't get too close. He could live with that.

Going back to his curled up position, staring aimlessly while trying to ignore the sounds outside, he eventually began to study his unwanted companion, purely to distract himself if nothing else.

She was tiny and cute- a real runt in his opinion- with black hair and dark eyes. She wore a coat that might've been an older male's, if the way she seemed to drown in it was any indication, and one of those little backpacks that is actually a purse pretending to be a backpack. She must've been the type who wasn't used to sitting still for long periods of time, because ten or fifteen minutes into the silence she began to fidget- scuffing her sneakers over the floor, playing with her hands, and finally drawing swirly patterns in the dust with her finger.

Eventually she opened her mouth, a little uncertainly. "Um-"

Something crashed loudly out in the street, causing both boy and girl to jump and draw in a breath. When the usual sounds returned and nothing similar happened for a minute or so they both released their breaths. The girl sagged as she tried again.

"Well, so… what's your name?" She asked.

"Why do you care?" He snapped back, surprised to find he regretted being so insensitive when she gave him a dark look.

"The city essentially just collapsed in on itself, there are people out their dead or dying, I'm a kid with no trusted adult in the vicinity, I'm alone in the store room of a shop with someone I don't know and I could possibly end up dead in the near future. Excuse me if I'm looking for a little normalcy here!" She snapped a him, raising her voice a little at the end before hurriedly bringing it back down- it would hardly do if they were discovered by the wrong people now.

He blinked at her in astonishment before his defensive attitude drained out of him. She was right, and he knew it.

"Daryl." He introduced flatly. She gave a weak smile.

"Tsugumi."

"Nice to meet you." He muttered, not really keeping eye contact with her. She didn't really mind, making a small sound of agreement.

"Hey… do you think this is like the Lost Christmas?" She asked, after a time. Daryl gave her an odd look.

"What kind of a question is that?"

"It's just… it doesn't seem like it somehow, you know? It doesn't feel the same."

The teen snorted. "Yeah, sure. Not the same at all."

"I'm serious. It felt… never mind." She shook her head, curling up like Daryl had before. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Felt what?"

"Nothing."

"You were going to say something, now I want to know. What is it?"

She sighed. "At first it felt… kind of nice. I mean, before people started breaking out in crystals, I thought I heard this song. It was so pretty I stopped to try and hear it better, and I felt this warmth." She placed a hand on her chest, on the spot just below her collarbone, above her heart. "Right here, something warm that just felt _right_." Her hand fell and her expression darkened. "And then people started to…"

Daryl scowled, his own hand somehow finding its way to his own chest. What she said sounded weird, but the truth was he'd felt something similar as well. Was it coincidence?

"…What did it sound like?"

Tsugumi looked up, large eyes innocently confused. "Hm?"

"The song, what did it sound like?" He clarified, giving her a pointed look.

The girl pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It sounded… kind of like…" She paused in thought, and then she started to hum. It sounded odd in her high pitched, child's voice, the melody wasn't perfect and the notes weren't all in tune, but she thought she captured the general feel of the original. Besides, she'd only heard it that once, even if it was burned into her brain it couldn't be expected to be perfect on the first try.

Daryl found himself relaxing to Tsugumi's humming, and leaned on his arms again with his eyes closed. She too was enjoying it, losing herself in the memory of that sweet, sorrowful tune.

A few minutes passed, and she was beginning to tire, but as her humming began to die it was replaced by the voice of another, except this time every note was perfect, and the deeper voice of a male gave the song a whole new level of beauty that had both children enraptured.

As gentle footfalls approached the door to their hiding place, Tsugumi thought she felt a tingling in her chest, where the strange warmth had before spread.

The door opened, a person stepped inside, and then softly closed it again. They wore a long coat with the hood drawn and a black scarf draped around their shoulders, but their soft smile was visible once they stopped their hypnotizing humming.

"Hello," The person said, coming over to crouch in front of them. Now that he was closer they could see locks of brown hair curling from the hood, and the face shadowed within.

"What do you want?" Asked Daryl suspiciously. The teen smiled pleasantly.

"Well I want a lot of things thanks for asking, a cookie right now might be nice, an action figure, my own motorcycle, some blackmail material on my uncle involving him in a frilly pink tutu…"

Tsugumi giggled. "I like this person, he can stay."

Daryl looked at her incredulous. "But Tsugumi-"

"So, you're Tsugumi?" The teen interrupted. She nodded, smiling.

"Uh-huh, and he's Daryl." She said, gesturing. Said boy looked annoyed at her having given his name and crossed his arms petulantly.

"Nice to meet you both." Said the stranger. "Or, I guess it would be, were it not for the circumstances." He admitted.

"Tell me about it," Daryl grumbled. "This is all so screwed up."

"It's not all bad." Tsugumi said, trying to be optimistic. "I mean, if this hadn't happened we wouldn't have met, right?" She smiled at the disgruntled blonde, who grunted a response and looked away, determined to remain the dark cloud of the group.

"Are you two friends?" Asked the hooded teen, looking between them curiously.

Tsugumi answered "Yep!" at exactly the same time Daryl answered "No way!" causing the two to look at each other oddly. The teen chuckled, and their conflicting expressions turned on him in a united look of embarrassment and incredulousness.

"It's not funny." Daryl grumbled darkly. "Why on earth would I ever be friends with this runt?"

Tsugumi turned on him, her cheeks doing that puffy-annoyed thing again. "I'm not a runt! My size is perfectly average for someone my age!"

The teen watched, mildly amused, as the two bickered for a few minutes. It eventually died down again and he deemed it safe to ask another question.

"What are you going to do now? Wait for GHQ to find you? Search for shelter?"

The two looked at each other again, uncertainty flickering in both sets of eyes. Daryl's mouth twisted and he looked down at his shoes, saying nothing. Tsugumi fidgeted.

"I don't know…" She admitted, eyes downcast. "I don't have anyone, I don't know where I'll go…"

Daryl sniffed, crossing his arms. "_I'm_ going to go home, I have a future I'm working towards, I'm not about to abandon it now."

The teen raised an eyebrow at the other boy beneath his hood. "If you could go home, why aren't you doing so now?"

Daryl blinked. "Um, well…"

"Better yet, how do you even know you still have a home to go to? That your 'future' is still there waiting for you? These are difficult times, you need to concentrate on the here and now, where you are, not necessarily where you're going."

The boy looked down, expression conflicted and miserable. After a moment of hesitation, Tsugumi placed a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. He didn't shrug her off.

The teen smiled a little, sadly, at these two children he had affected so horribly, though he was glad they were finding strength in each other to keep moving.

Now, to business.

"Tsugumi, you were humming a song when I arrived, where'd you hear it?"

The little girl blinked at him and shrugged a little. "I… thought I heard it when the outbreak began. I wanted to see if I could recreate it, because it was pretty and all…" She gave a short, weak laugh. "I didn't do so great a job, yours was way better."

"No, you did it pretty well."

She tried to look grateful for the compliment, and then her dark eyes lit up. "Say, could you sing it again? It was really nice, almost like the very first time. Please?"

He smiled. "Sure."

He started humming the song again, and the two, Daryl included, relaxed where they sat, falling into peaceful bliss. As he hummed, he reached into his coat and summoned some crystals, out of sight of the two children. When he withdrew his hand, in his palm sat two delicate crystal flowers, like the one Yuu had once bloomed before his eyes, but much smaller. He offered them to the children, who gave them curious, slightly glassy eyes looks.

"Presents," He explained. "Everything seems better with presents, don't you think?"

They each took a flower, examining them with fascination.

"Thanks so much! Um…" Tsugumi looked at him, realization in her expression. "What's your name?"

He smiled at them again, and they were abruptly engulfed in red light.

When the two would wake up, a few hours later, they would find themselves curled beside each other for warmth, the crystal flowers still in their hands, and a piece of paper between them with directions to a location neither of them was very familiar with.

"I don't remember… who was he?" Daryl asked, rubbing his temple as he tried to ignore that he'd awoken next to the runt of all people. Tsugumi looked down at the slip of paper in her hand, and the flower in the other.

"I think he said his name was… Shu."

**OoOoOoOoO**

"So… you're closing it off?" Yuu asked, tone of voice suggesting he really didn't care either way, which he didn't. Shuichiro nodded.

"Loop 7 is a breeding ground for the virus, and I'd venture a guess that a fair number of fragment bearers will be trapped within as well. It will be the perfect place to deploy the Gatherers." He said.

It had been two weeks already since their controlled outbreak, and things were finally calming down a bit, though the GHQ was still thick in the city with their evacuation and vaccination sights and just generally acting as crowd control. It wasn't even funny how many people take this kind of turmoil as an opportunity to cause trouble.

Yuu made a thoughtful sound, looking at the screen where they observed the wall being set up around the perimeter of Loop 7.

"You're going to shrink it at regular intervals right?" He asked, to which Shuichiro nodded. "Well, why not just… leave it as it is?"

The man looked down at the youth in surprise. "And why, pray tell, should I do that?"

The Gravekeeper smiled at him in his all-knowing, conniving way. "Well as you said, it's a breeding ground for the virus, and we can let the Gatherers run around in there with the rest of the city being none the wiser. Not to mention…" The smile grew into a sneer. "Poor Adam is restless from being kept inside all the time, as you may have noticed. Maintaining the wall is easy, why not just leave it as is and let him run in it, somewhere he won't have to worry about concealing himself."

Shuichiro raised a grey eyebrow. "You want to give Loop 7 to Shu?"

Yuu nodded. "That's right, a present so to speak. Adam needs a playground, and we have one right here on our doorstep, so why not make use of it?" He laughed deviously and looked towards a different screen, tone growing thoughtful once more. "Say, Shuichiro… have you thought of a way to apply the Adam Gene without the subject losing their individuality?"

"We've been working on it." The man said, calling up some statistics on the screens. "It's been proving difficult, but I think it may be possible under the right circumstances. Why? Do you have something in mind?"

"Of course," The youth said, expression devious. "We're building a kingdom for our little king, and a king needs knights, don't you think?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

_She grew more real every time._

_His head rested in her lap, and she stroked his hair with her fingers, humming her song again. It sounded similar to the ones he himself had sung, but different. This was her song._

_**What do you want, Mana?**_

_He opened his eyes to see millions of stars, the sound of the ocean faint in the background._

_**Am I… doing the right thing?**_

_He told himself he knew what he was doing, but he could never seem to stop worrying. Perhaps one of few things still human about him._

_She leaned down so her face was above his, her gentle eyes gazing into his._

It's always what I want, is it?

_The corner of his mouth turned up a little, but it was weak._

_**Naturally.**_

_She smiled. _

The only world I want…

_She tilted her head and kissed him very, very softly._

Is a world where both you and I exist.

_He closed his eyes._

**OoOoOoOoO**

Tsugumi hugged Daryl a little harder than he was comfortable with, but he had the grace to ignore it by now. They had become almost joined at the hip even upon finding shelter in this high school the note had directed them to, seeing they only knew each other among all these unfamiliar faces. That had gradually changed during these two weeks, but even so, Daryl was now undeniably attached to the little runt, as much as he loathed admitting it.

That being said, she had somehow managed to coerce him into giving her a piggy back ride, claiming that because she was so short it was hard for her to see anything and she was scared of getting squashed. Daryl had been vehemently against letting her cling to his back like a monkey, but the little girl was very good at convincing him to do things. He didn't really want to talk about it.

The news that Loop 7 was being quarantined had been hard on everyone, and the young teen had wanted to puke when he saw the broadcast.

He couldn't believe they were being abandoned just like that. All the people still trapped here, there were several hundred teens here at the high school alone, now unable to return home and likely to die once they ran out of vaccines.

This can't be happening.

That was what everyone was thinking.

Now here they were, taking a few minutes from their initial panic to stare, both dumbfounded and suspicious, at the huge truck that had parked itself outside their school.

Cautiously, the residents of the school peered down at the vehicle from numerous places, whether it be the roof, huge glass windows, balconies, or higher side walks. Some of them were probably wondering if it was someone to help, and others were probably wondering if it was some gang that wanted to steal from them. Daryl was sure things like that were going to become a norm from now on.

To everyone's surprise, the truck opened and a small group of people emerged, some of them easily young enough to go to this very school. They all wore some kind of black uniform, and stood in a line before the watching eyes of the students.

One of them stepped forward, a blonde boy no older than Daryl, a sound amplifier in hand.

"People of Tennouzu, please do not be alarmed. I am Gai Tsutsugami, and we-" He did a somewhat dramatic arm sweep. "- are the Undertakers, we wish to offer our aid to you."

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_Yes I do love to screw with your minds. Isn't it fun? For me? Of course it is._

_Yes there is a little bit of incest in there, don't be a baby about it, it's not like they had sex or something. Sheesh. Do you see some familiar faces? I would hope so, or somehow I doubt you'd be reading this. I tried to stick to what canon facts we know, but since its AU and my story I have the right to run with this. I'm hoping to keep the story well rounded by including a bit of everybody, rather than some fan fictions where the other characters besides the main are just kind of glazed over._

_Say...would you guys be up for a challenge? I want you to try and guess my age, I'm curious to see what you might come up with from my writing. I also give you this challenge because it might help me remember what my age is. ;D_

_No, I'm serious! Really! My mother doesn't even know how old I am. It's almost sad. ...in a funny kind of way._

_So, read, review, talk to me, please, I'm lonely and bored and I'm seriously starting to realize why authors like reviews, the things are addictive._

_So yeah. I'll get chapter 8 up here sometime next week. IT'S GOING TO BE EPIC (i hope). O-o _

_MB_


	8. Kingdom

_**AN: **Back again. As promised. I'm thinking this chapter isn't going to be what most of you expected, just to warn you. There were a lot of directions I could have gone with this, and I pondered it a whole lot, believe me, but ultimately I am proud of my result. From the looks of things, this is going to be significantly longer than the actually series, so look forward to yet more updates. My writing has slowed a bit but I think I can still make it every week or so._

_By the way, that little challenge I stuck at the end of the previous chapter...the various responses I've received so far make me giggle. Really, I'm tickled. I don't really know why. Though I laugh at almost every review I get, so maybe getting them just makes me happy in general. _

_Say, did it ever occur to you that when I ask for something like car keys it's not because I want the car? Maybe I just want the keys. Car keys are awesome, especially the ones that have the little springs in them or a button. If they're just normal keys then that's cool, too. Normal keys jingle. And jingling is neat._

_And yes, yes I am easily entertained._

_And no, no I do not have an attention disorder. Not officially anyway._

_So..._

_I Do Not Own Guilty Crown, nor do I have any relation to it, not even distantly. Seriously._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Kingdom_

Sometimes being a genetically altered human possessed by a virus was really too cool. Being a King really paid off at times, too, since it meant everyone wanted to spoil you.

And Shu was feeling very spoiled right now.

Yuu had given him Loop 7, given it to him like a boxed gift rather than a huge chunk of the city filled with refugees and, as of the previous month or so, mutated monsters known as Gatherers. It was his to control his mentor had said; he could play in it all he wanted and pluck the fragments from the unfortunate residents whenever it suited him.

As long as he didn't leave the headquarters, of course. Ordinarily, this would have defeated the purpose of having a 'playground' at all, but these were not ordinary circumstances.

Shu had learned a new trick as of late. In order to govern Loop 7 semi-directly, he had devised a method using the Cradle to not merely remotely control Gatherers, but project his consciousness into a construct of his own making. It was difficult to explain, but essentially, he could 'be' in Loop 7 without actually _being_ there. Next to the Power of Adam, it was probably the coolest ability he had yet.

His animated, crystalline body was pretty neat as well- it couldn't be destroyed, since the crystals would only grow back, it didn't get tired, and gravity became something along the lines of a suggestion.

It was also pretty intimidating, which was a bit of the idea he'd had when he'd used local crystals to form it- the virus had only been too happy.

The remote controlled body was humanoid, but tall and thin in a very un-human way, it's height bordered on eight or nine feet, it's texture smooth but lumpy due to the angles often seen in naturally formed crystals. Unlike the purple virus crystals, his crystal body was black, thin veins of red faintly visible within, starting where his heart was meant to be and spreading all the way to the tips of his abnormally long fingers. His head was head shaped, but there was no mouth or nose or anything that one typically found on a head, besides a small cloud of what appeared to be colorful flame, floating around in a way that resembled living hair. Within the dark crystal of his face there was two glowing red slits meant to be eyes, but besides occasionally growing larger or smaller they didn't really move in the way eyes were meant to, seeing as he didn't have to blink and he didn't have pupils.

With his true body miles away, safe within the Cradle while his mind was elsewhere, Shu could explore with few boundaries.

It had been nearly two months since the second outbreak, and gliding through his new playground, Shu saw Loop 7 was a shadow of its former self. Buildings were broken into and abandoned; streets were littered with debris, crystal growths, or bodies. People who weren't hiding or awaiting their death were stealing from others or fighting over supplies.

In one street Shu observed one man shoot another over a box of cookies. It was both sickening, and morbidly funny.

Seriously. Cookies. But then perhaps if he were starving, that box would look like a whole lot more than just some month-old cookies. He'd personally rather not find out.

Due to the fact that Loop 7 was cut off and thus nothing new was coming in, he was almost surprised people had lasted this long. Anything they used would have to be something that was here before the outbreak, and was retrieved before someone else scavenged it. He'd already seen some fights between groups over supplies, and a number of people turning on their own companions when something like vaccines became scarce.

He wondered if they would all die of the cancer or kill each other off first.

To his right, a man was hiding in an alleyway, catching his attention only because he started to giggle hysterically. He lifted an unseen brow at the man, who didn't seem to notice the nine-foot-tall, alien creature watching him. His unsettling laughter grew in volume as he lifted a battered handgun to rest against a spot on his temple not covered by the purple crystals crawling over his brow.

He fired.

Shu sighed. _Likely both will factor strongly. If I hold a betting pool, I'd better have a third possible choice._

He'd give them a year max before they were all dead.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Things were going… very well actually.

A few weeks ago no one would have thought it possible, and if you had claimed, "everything will be okay" you'd be called a liar. No longer.

What had once been a high school of panicking teenagers was now nothing short of a fortress, a barricade had erupted around the perimeter and the entire campus had been converted into either living and work space for the people occupying it or taken over by equipment or supplies.

After the initial fear and uncertainty of the Undertakers working at organizing things on their own, a surprising number of the students had risen to the task. Many were eager to help, and those without useful skills were given other odd jobs. Everyone did something to help keep their little fort together.

Originally, there had only been several hundred students in Tennouzu, but as the Undertakers continued to keep good on their promise to provide supplies and safety, they attracted other refugees who had no desire to fight and would gladly join their community for food and shelter.

Eventually, they had no choice but to expand their perimeter- the school wasn't capable of housing so many within its walls alone. Tennouzu became the fort, and in the surrounding area a tiny city erupted. Buildings that were nearby enough were made useful, and where people grew uncomfortable with the distance between them and the high school and there was no building already in place a new structure of some kind popped up. Loop 7 was by no means scarce in material, so in groups the new citizens of Tennouzu would scavenge all sorts of things to create tiny shacks, clustered together with strips of space between them as streets.

With so many people and a need to keep them calm and organized, the Undertakers became a kind of government, the few original members that arrived the high council, as some jokingly referred to them as. A number of the refugees had joined the Undertakers, some of them proving to have skills invaluable to their cause, of which, the fledgling democracy only knew one thing- they wanted the end of GHQ. And after being left to die by their once-claimed 'saviors', that was fine by them.

Of the progress they'd made in these short weeks, Gai was quite proud.

Originally the halls of Tennouzu had been wrangled as temporary quarters for the innumerable people staying there, but with the establishment of their miniature city they had been cleared as the school became a primary center for work and the Undertakers base.

As he walked through the currently empty halls he tried to imagine his siblings reactions to what he was up to now.

Shu would probably be flabbergasted, if not puzzled, and would try to hide it behind a mocking indifference, but be happy for him all the same. Likely Mana would just smile and tell him he was doing a good job, before she'd drag one or both of them off on some colorful adventure.

He rarely told anyone the reasons behind his ambitions, those few he did he was rather vague and referred to the duo as his family. That was what they had been after all- Haruka had once told him they were thinking of adopting him, since he was clearly one of them. He hadn't thought the word 'adopt' would ever sound so good to him, and Mana and Shu had seemed only too happy with the idea.

For them, he'd made a vow.

_I will destroy GHQ._

He had put forth all his effort to this end, and his determination, it seemed, had attracted him some followers. He'd been initially hesitant to go starting any kind of group, but after a lot of thought and deliberation realized that no matter how strong he was he couldn't do this on his own.

Gai was ultimately glad he'd made this decision. He'd learned what it was like to have friends again, and though he drew strength from his memories, he felt old wounds in his heart gradually healing.

Despite being so young, Shibungi had insisted Gai be the leader of the Undertakers, despite the teen's age and wariness. He had gradually grown into the role, and was pleased to admit his strategic mind had grown exponentially over the past eight years.

He knew he could pull this off; all he really needed was the means.

Gai's train of thought was abruptly interrupted when what looked like a toaster on wheels skittered across the hall from an open doorway, made a curbing turn and promptly crashed into the wall.

It was… kind of random to say the least.

He cocked his head at the motionless heap of scrap metal quizzically, and a beat later there was a dramatic moan from behind him.

"Not agaaaaaain." Tsugumi whined, skipping over to crouch beside the… thing. "I thought I fixed the guiding systeeeem."

"You probably did," Said Daryl, leaning against the doorframe. "You just told it running into walls was a good thing."

The girl whined again but seemed too immersed in inspecting the damage to reply properly. Daryl rolled his eyes briefly before noticing Gai standing to the side.

"Oh, hi. Here to see Tsugumi's spectacular failures?" He inquired, pointing. Gai smirked and shook his head.

"Not really, this is a rather amusing coincidence though."

Tsugumi sprang up, giving them both her 'angry stance'. "You just wait, I'll build a robot that's so awesome, you'll be worshipping me like the mechanical goddess I am." She told them heatedly, only seeming to notice Gai after she'd already told them off. "Gai! Won't you help me build an awesome robot? I know I can do it, I just need the right materials, there just isn't enough to work with here in this zombie wasteland."

Daryl lifted a skeptical brow. "Since when do we have zombies?"

Tsugumi ignored him. "Please, Gai?" She pulled out the puppy dog eyes. "_Pleeeaase_?"

Gently, the teenager pushed her back a little; she had started to get into his personal space. "Maybe, Tsugumi. If we find an opportunity."

It wasn't the greatest appeasement, but the petite genius seemed to accept it, because she pumped a fist, thanked him, scooped up her prototype and disappeared into the room again. Daryl sighed.

"You've probably just made her worse." He informed Gai dully. He shrugged.

Daryl gave another long-suffering sigh before he was abruptly yanked into the room from behind, allegedly by Tsugumi if her sudden exclamations of needing assistance were any indication, and the door closed.

Gai smiled a bit to himself and resumed his walk. He had grown kind of fond of the duo, both apparently had come here for shelter during the outbreak, and proved to have some useful talents they were eager to lend to their cause. They had been semi-officially Undertakers since a few weeks ago, and had thus been staying within Tennouzu.

Tsugumi, while small and barely twelve years old, was a genius with computers and machines and as of late had developed a strong interest in robots. She claimed she was going to create the official Undertaker mascot, and no one dared to stand in her way.

Unfortunately wrapped into her quest was her near constant companion Daryl. Gai had limited knowledge on the boy, though he was a bit arrogant and on occasion brutally blunt, he wasn't a bad person and had recently revealed he was a natural at piloting Endlaves. In that manner, he had managed to form a tentative friendship with Ayase, who though had at first been almost annoyed at there being someone else who could pilot, had then accepted him upon Daryl showing her the utmost respect for being as skilled as she was despite them being the same age. He had apparently been dreaming of piloting Endlaves for a while now.

Gai had begun mentally looking over their current supplies when a loud, repetitive buzzing blared from every speaker the school had to offer, a continuous pattern of short bursts of noise, an alarm the Undertakers had installed with Tsugumi's assistance that all the residents of their fort had been made to memorize.

It meant they were under attack.

Ayase came barreling around a corner at a speed only she could manage in a wheel chair, skidding to a halt when she saw him.

"Gai!" She need say no more.

"Get to your station," He ordered, already turning down another hallway and breaking into a run himself.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shu was actually… pretty impressed. He hadn't thought there was anyone in Loop 7 capable of setting aside their individual desires for survival and working together with everyone, never mind keeping a small community of refugees alive and cooperative.

These people never would have been able to pull this off on their own, especially since there was simply no way a group this large could be steadily sustained by the limited resources of Loop 7. There was something up here.

First of all, this little city spoke of some organizing factor, and whoever they were he applauded them. Putting together something like this took some serious guts.

_I may have to rethink my betting options…_

He didn't know why but he was feeling… kind of tickled actually. The word sounded very unmanly, but at this point he didn't really care since it was the truth. There was someone around here with a brain, and despite being worshiped and virtually omnipotent, he also had virtually nothing to do. The possibility of some sort of challenge, some source of… amusement, would be very much welcome.

And the huge number of fragments he sensed here was actually quite amusing.

_A little kingdom… but I wonder who is the king?_

Yikes, he was starting to sound like Yuu.

_Blergh. Not in a million years._

Moving past that.

He recognized the place as Hare's school, having traversed the grounds a few times before. It was the same place he had told that twosome to go to, simply because it was the only vaguely safe place he was personally familiar with. It seemed that had worked out well.

A kingdom like this had to have some sort of leader, defenders, etc. Just this little community was far beyond his expectations, and he was curious to see what else they had up their sleeve.

Why not a test then?

With the ease of long practice, Shu reached out to the primal, receptive minds of the Gatherers, roaming Loop 7 less than a mile away. He sent them only a simple command along with the location.

_Sic 'em._

They responded wholeheartedly.

Within minutes, three Gatherers emerged from the forest of buildings, the first bounding in before skidding to a stop a kilometer from the outer edge of the little kingdom, stopping and waiting for the other two, almost more reserved, who padded up along side it.

The first was by far the largest, hunched and beastlike, it was difficult to believe it had once been human. Its mutations were so drastic it resembled some sort of enormous carnivore, sickeningly overgrown with the Apocalypse virus. The other two were at least human-ish. They too had cancer crystals crawling over a large percentage of their bodies, crawling around empty red eyes, turning their hands into huge clawed weapons, covering their shoulders in a manner that resembled armor with blunt spikes sticking from their backs and shoulders.

The first Gatherer seemed eager to get to business, and drooled a purplish sludge onto the cracked street before taking off, loping the remaining distance to the cluster of buildings.

By this time, Shu noticed a noise coming from the mini-city, and the sudden flurry of movement. Incidentally they had noticed the creatures looking at their base like lunch. He was mildly impressed by their organization, they must have gone through some sort of drill for something like this, because as he watched all the residents outside the school immediately evacuated into the relative safety the large building had to offer.

Even so, the school only provided so much protection, the Gatherers were more than strong enough to blast holes straight through material as flimsy as concrete.

If they made it that far.

To the young Adam's surprise, his 'soldiers' were met with resistance.

The barricade surrounding the little city wasn't a huge obstacle for the Gatherers, the first one simply jumping over it, but beyond that there was an open space between the wall and the shacks, and along the inside of the barricade there were stout little towers that seemed to have been erupted out of scraps of metal, concrete, and just about whatever was available at the time. From these tiny fortifications, fire rained down on the unsuspecting Gatherer.

_That will hardly help._ Shu thought dully. _Bullets are nothing to the crystals._

The Gatherer snarled viciously, the bullets, while not doing much to harm it, were annoying, and it changed it's course to the nearest tower, using it's body as living battering ram and blasting right through it as if it were a house of cards. As it occupied itself tearing through whatever humans had survived their shelter being smashed to bits, the other two Gatherers moved in.

One of them formed a wickedly sharp blade from the crystals on its arm, leapt onto the rim of a tower, and progressed to slice its occupants to ribbons. The other did something similar in the weapon department, but rather than taking the time to climb into the tower and murder all its occupants, it simply cut apart the entire tower along with everything in it, something the various fighters hadn't thought possible.

Shu was starting to think maybe he had overestimated these people before he heard an explosion off to his right.

_A rocket launcher._ He smirked. _Charming._

Clearly, he wasn't dealing with any ordinary refugees- artillery like that wasn't found just lying around in the street.

The rocket launcher was a good call, since even if it wasn't strong enough to break the armor of crystals the force threw the Gatherers around like toys. The beast Gatherer was thrown a few yards when it was hit a second time, a few crystals breaking off from the impact. The beast snarled angrily, leapt away from another incoming projectile, and charged at the one firing.

The other two in the meantime were suffering similar conflict; their opponent was allegedly smartening up enough to pull out the big guns. Literally.

There was a brief struggle between both sides, losses occurring among the humans, a few heavy landings and angry snarls among the monsters, but Shu came to the conclusion that if this continued they would be there all day.

The beast Gatherer had finally succeeded in tearing the enormous weapon from its wielder, and was scant inches away from tearing the mans throat out when it was slammed to the side by something larger than itself.

If Shu had eyebrows, they would have shot up into his hair.

Endlaves. Two of them.

_The plot thickens._

A female voice rang out from the first robot. "Daryl, get the other two, I've got this one!"

'_Daryl'… where have I heard that name?_

The other machine chose not to respond, merely throwing itself into the throng, giving the nearest Gatherer a hard cuff that immediately captured its attention. As the two began to fight, the other Gatherer was attracted as well.

As the fight reached a whole new level of chaos, Shu was once again impressed. The two Endlave pilots were skilled, admittedly their techniques seemed somewhat raw and unrefined, but the fact that they seemed to be fighting- and winning- on pure talent alone was astounding in itself. They also worked well with the ground troops, who after regaining their wits were now providing support with yet more bullets and- big shocker- another rocket launcher.

Where were they _getting_ this stuff? Loop 7 was a virtual wasteland after two months of isolation; there shouldn't have been any kind of weapons of this magnitude in the area at the time of the outbreak.

_They have help._

It was a mystery he would pursue at a later date.

For now, the battle seemed to be winding down, he could tell when the female pilot seemed to lose her temper and smashed the Gatherer with all she had. The beast didn't go splat or anything, it merely lay there within its own crater, crystal shards trickling from its form like sweat. It shivered a little and tried to stand again.

"What in the world…" The female pilot muttered in astonishment. "What _are_ these things?"

Shu sighed and sent the thing another message.

_It's okay._ He told it._ You've done your part. Let go._

The beast flopped against the pavement. Somewhere in the deep, twisted depths of its mind it was relieved it was over. It didn't move again.

The female pilot went to assist her partner in disposing of the two remaining Gatherers. They put up a fight of course, it was all they knew to do, but even after managing to damage the two Endlaves using their superior speed and sharp crystal blades, they too were similarly squashed like bugs.

The Endlaves stood, wary over the bodies of their defeated foe, while the foot soldiers kept their weapons up, surveying the area for more threats.

Shu mentally clucked his tongue, looking over what he had learned today. He thought he'd done enough for now; he'd leave these people to their own devices and come back later to see how they were doing. They survived today, but only because he wasn't serious about destroying them. He could take their fragments anytime he wanted.

He was just turning to leave when he heard a shout from below where he had perched on a nearby building to observe the fight.

"Another one!" Someone cried.

Almost immediately there was a rocket heading for him. He almost snorted.

_Oh please._

The roof exploded into dust and rubble, a cloud thick enough that it hid the nine-foot-tall-thing that had once perched there.

The soldiers squinted around. "Did we get it?"

Daryl suddenly pointed with his machine's arm. "There!"

They all looked.

The thing stood in the center of the street, less than a kilometer away, perfectly still and watching them.

Shu mentally smirked at the gob-smacked expressions on their faces.

"It's still alive?"

"What the hell-"

"What is that thing?"

There was a moment of jumbled exclamations from the various humans present, before they all finally agreed on something.

"_Fire_!"

About time.

This time, Shu didn't even move when the various projectiles flew towards him with great speed.

They exploded when they hit him, but for some reason he remained rooted in place. When the dust cleared once again they all saw his mangled body, still somehow upright. Huge chunks of crystal had blasted right off, his entire right arm, parts of his chest; even his head had a big bite out of it.

To the humans horror, after a brief moment of just standing there like some kind of deranged sculpture, the crystals of his remaining body began to grow, gradually filling in the missing parts, his slightly bent and broken body standing straight and proud once again with a flawless black crystal body.

He made no move towards them. No indication of being a threat, despite the fact that they had just literally blown him to bits.

They didn't fire again.

Truthfully they were kind of confused. The thing before them seemed different than the things they just fought, the quite drastic variation in appearance notwithstanding. It didn't even seem mad they had fired on it.

It was weird.

"Why is it looking at us like that?"

"What is it?"

"It looks kind of like a person…"

"Do you think it can talk?"

Again, murmured curiosities exchanged amongst the troops. The civilians observing through the windows of the school behind them weren't much better.

"It doesn't matter!" The woman in the Endlave said, her voice through the speaker loud enough to cow everyone into silence. "It's just another monster, destroy it already!" She sounded somewhat strained. Angry.

Shu was unimpressed.

He raised a single arm, the movement immediately capturing the humans' attention. He moved very slowly, unthreateningly. He held up his hand so his palm was parallel to his face, his gesture so slow it was as if every movement was for their benefit.

He flipped them the bird.

The looks on their faces were _priceless_.

The female pilot sputtered over her speaker, and after a silent moment of open-mouthed shock, a few of the humans snickered, and after another moment some burst out laughing.

"I don't think it likes you, Ayase!" One of them said, chuckling.

The pilot seemed so steamed her machine almost appeared to be expressing her anger. "Why that little…"

"Very clever," Someone said in a steady, carrying voice. "Despite initial misgivings, I believe we have established that our guest is no ordinary science experiment."

The soldiers hushed and parted as someone moved through them. It was a young man, maybe fifteen, with shoulder length blond hair and sharp grey eyes. He moved across the field until he stood at the edge of the barrier.

"You are intelligent aren't you?" He called out, a slight smirk of confidence gracing his features. "Please grant me the honor of speaking with you personally, strange visitor."

There was a sudden flurry of noise as the other humans protested this risky proposal, and they were indeed being the sensible ones. The teen waved them off though, shooting them some pointed looks, and they wilted under his gaze.

Shu didn't pay any attention to any of this. Behind his black crystal face he was stiff with shock.

_Triton?_

**OoOoOoOoO**

He didn't know what possessed him to go and try and talk to the creature on their doorstep. Maybe it was intrigue, maybe he was hoping it could offer some useful information, either way he was definitely being impulsive.

He didn't do impulsive. He always thought ahead, he planned everything down to the last detail, playing what seemed to most people a risky gamble was really a carefully calculated series of events based on information obtained ahead of time and human nature. People are so predictable after all, once you figure out what makes them tick.

So with his comrades apprehensively standing at his back, he climbed on top of the barrier to look across the scant distance between him and the crystal thing. He stared at it, awaiting an answer almost fully exposed. If the thing was any bit as fast as the other monsters, it could reach him and rip him to shreds before the Undertakers behind him could so much as put lift their weapons.

He wasn't sure why he was taking the risk.

There was a pregnant period of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, and then the creature lifted its orb like head, crimson slits that he assumed were its eyes seemed to be looking directly into his.

"…_Who are you?_" It asked, despite having no mouth. Its voice was somewhat masculine, but had a kind of tremor to it that made it sound warbled and vague, deep but distant, as if what they were hearing was really an echo that had traveled from far away.

"I am Gai Tsutsugami, leader of the Undertakers." He gestured to their tense audience. "We are the governing body here, so to speak. And you are?"

The thing did not answer. It merely stood silently, its thoughts impossible to guess without any human features to study. When it didn't seem intent to say more, Gai pursed his lips and turned slightly, making a calming gesture to the Undertakers, then jumped down from the barrier.

He started walking towards the creature.

It seemed much bigger up close, and though it did not move he could feel it watching him as he came closer, stopping a very short distance away, just enough that he wouldn't have to crane his neck to look up at the thing.

It didn't have pupils, but its eyes bore into his. He felt like he was being appraised somehow. He didn't let it intimidate him.

After a long time, it tilted its head a little, as if just now choosing to acknowledge his presence. "_You are the leader here… I admit you have my respect, Gai Tsutsugami._"

The teens eyebrow lifted, surprised. "Why is that?"

He imagined if it had a mouth, it would have been smirking at him. "_To build yourself a kingdom in this time of chaos is no small feat. I am impressed by how you have brought these people together, and even managed to fight off the Gatherers. Truly, well done._" It said, voice neutral, but something like amusement mixed with sincerity was buried in there. Gai was under the impression he ought to be very flattered that this thing was complimenting him.

"Nice to know someone thinks I'm doing a good job." He joked dryly. "What do you mean 'Gatherers'? You mean those cancer monsters?"

The creature's head shifted in position, its attention seeming to move elsewhere. Gai made an attempt at following its line of sight, not the easiest thing in the world, and found his gaze resting on the corpse of the monster they have previously fought, not far from them.

"_They are not monsters._"

Gai blinked. "What?"

The creature turned slightly towards it and lifted its arm, long claw like fingers extended towards the motionless body. Nothing seemed to happen.

The crystals over the dead body began to crumble, little wisps of light twisted around its form, the cancer falling away and shattering into tiny particles. As they broke away, the form shrank, and became something much more familiar.

Behind him, he heard a sudden influx of noise, and turned to see the other Undertakers gaping at the other two corpses, that also seemed to have deformed in similar manner to the one he looked at.

Within each small crater there now lay a mangled human body. Shards of crystal still clung to them in some places, their flesh somewhat deformed, but the resemblance was unmistakable.

"_They didn't use to be, anyway._" Said the crystal being, lowering its arm.

Gai stared, the image of the corpses of former humans boring into his brain, and finally looked back to the creature.

"What are they?" He asked solemnly. The being lifted its shoulders in what appeared to be a shrug, a very human like gesture.

"_They are what they are, and they are Gatherers._" It said. "_Don't let their tragic nature fool you though, they are lost to this world._"

As it spoke, the corpses were consumed by crystals and shattered, the pieces disintegrating into nothingness.

Gai took a deep breath. "I see. I'm under the assumption we're going to have worry about more of these things, aren't we?" He didn't really expect the being to answer, he was already quite surprised with how conversational it was being, but it surprised him some more by answering.

"_Correct. The wall is the least of your worries. It cuts off Loop 7 from the rest of the city, allowing the Gatherers to run here, unhindered._"

"Mm. I guess GHQ had that in mind when they sealed us in huh…" Gai muttered thoughtfully.

The being seemed to smirk. "_GHQ? Whatever pointed you in their direction?_"

The teen looked up and his confident smile eased back onto his face. "Honestly? I'm out to destroy them. I don't form an organization for nothing you know." He lifted a hand to shield the side of his mouth, mock-whispering. "But don't tell anyone, we haven't made our debut yet."

He daresay he though he had managed to amuse the thing, and he felt a pleasant burst of pride and a little ego inflation. On the one hand, it seemed stupid to be so sociable to this creature of unknown origin, likely some creation of his enemies and thus he could very well be giving information to the very people he sought to wipe from the face of the earth. On the other… it didn't feel that way. This creature's entire attitude was all wrong. It seemed almost friendly, familiar even.

Admittedly, there _was_ something disturbing and alien about it, and it was certainly dangerous if its regeneration and apparent affiliation with the 'Gatherers' was anything to go by.

But despite that it had not once shown it intended them harm, the most violent thing it had done yet was give them the middle finger, and no one was going to die from that.

It was downright weird.

"You seem very friendly for an enemy." Gai said mildly. "_Are_ you my enemy?"

The creature seemed to look into his eyes once more, and once again Gai felt them stabbing right through him, perhaps even leaving digging marks on his brain.

"_I am not _your_ enemy, Gai. I wish you no harm._" It said steadily. Its head titled back slightly, in a manner that suggested it was looking over his head, at Tennouzu. "_However… you have something I want._"

Gai was puzzled, and wrinkled his brow. "What could we possibly have that you want?"

A pause. "_Why do you wish to destroy GHQ? Have they done something you dislike?_"

It avoided the question.

The teen smirked dryly. "Something like that."

Two could play at that game.

Once again he thought he sensed vague amusement from the thing. It really seemed to find him entertaining.

"_Regardless of personal preferences… we are opponents in this war, Gai Tsutsugami. You wish to destroy GHQ, that places us on very different sides, if not the ones you think._" It paused, the crimson slits briefly vanishing as if it closed its eyes for a moment. "_Tell me, do you think your heart is strong enough to accomplish this feat? Do you have the strength?_"

Gai was startled, and struggled not to show it. He had brief flashes of his smiling siblings, of Mana offering him a gun, of two embracing figures silhouetted by flames, of reddish brown eyes smiling at him as the light within them faded.

Unconsciously, he closed his eyes and touched where the cross lay nestled beneath his clothes, and gripped the cloth in his fist with the cross along with it.

He looked right at the black crystal being, into its alien, crimson eyes. The same shade Mana's had been the day she died.

"Yes." He said, confidently, voice unwavering. "The people I love… and have loved, have made me strong. I will win, no matter what."

It was impossible to tell, but he could've sworn the creature was smiling at him.

"_Well then, I have few more words for you._" It lifted its arm, palm up, and made a demonstrative fist. "_Fight hard, Gai Tsutsugami, and fight well._"

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_Bwahahahahahahaaaa. Are you mad? Are you shell-shocked?_

_If you are eager for the next chapter, I can't say I care if you're either._

_Let's use Shu's method and say there's a third option- Are you 'INSERT THIRD OPTION HERE' ?_

_Ah yes, I have pulled out the dark themes. I can't say I didn't expect it, sarcasm may be my third favorite thing in the universe(after sleep and chocolate) but I am not a comedy writer. I write cynical, I write realistic(about as much as someone who primarily writes fantasy can) and I write deep. Or I try to. If you have issues with implied genocide then I suggest reading no further._

_I had a little action in there this time. Wow. I'm not so great at action scenes if you haven't noticed, but I tried. I too appreciate some action in the stories I read, so fear not, there will be more, if not very long or brilliant._

_Please, tell me your thoughts. I weep at the notion of being without you all. Truly. No, seriously. Oh forget it._

_MB_


	9. Vessel

_**AN: **I have no excuse. Life is life. I have other stories to write, and other things to worry about. Lucky you though, I'm not like some authors who post a chapter and then don't post the next one for a year or two. So I have that going for me._

_My goldfish died. This makes me sad. He died from severe constipation. I'm not even kidding. It's pleases me not, it's such an ethically wrong way to die._

_So... yes. Here is my chapter. It gave me issues at first, so I left it to sit for awhile and simmer down. This story does not appreciate time-out._

_I Do Not Own Guilty Crown, it's Characters, or Anything of the Sort. I did own a goldfish named Socrates though, but he died..._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Vessel_

Group Twelve was failing. Epically. Like usual.

It had become such a common sight that everyone had learned to expect it, and the group itself was considered simply to be where all the failures were sent. It was because of this that they usually received the worst training and the most menial of tasks. Their instructors didn't even expect them to be able to perform most of the exercises. In fact most of the time they were sent away before the session was even over because the instructor was bored watching them fail to get it right.

Most of the test subjects here were normal kids, all without an adult figure to watch over them or one that cared enough to notice they'd gone missing. Most were pulled from orphanages or the streets, some of them willing to give up their bodies for things like food and a bed, others more or less dragged here kicking and screaming. You'd think that being all in the same boat as test subjects, lab rats, numbers on a clipboard that reduced them to little more than statistics, would mean they were all in the same boat and able to have some kind of camaraderie.

They didn't.

It was like the worst kind of stereotypical high school, boot camp, and hierarchy all combined into one twisted institute. The Groups were cliques, all separated into the smartest, the strongest, the fastest, and so on. The Groups tended to be a gathering of subjects who aspired towards certain professions, which honestly sounded very wrong. What kind of test subject looked forward to the twisted things they were being used for? The kind that had nothing else left to strive for, that's what.

So anyway, most of the Groups were hoping to end up as some sort of super soldier unit within Daath, others to qualify for the host testing, which revolved around searching for a suitable wielder of the Void Genome. This was probably the most sought after position among the subjects, gaining the Power of Kings would make one more than a test subject, they would become respected, powerful, perhaps a even a right hand to Adam himself.

Then there was the testing that nobody really liked.

It had something to do with the Adam Gene, but they were always being injected with strange things and this particular kind of testing was never explained to the subjects. All they knew was they were being checked for it regularly and on occasion one of them would disappear after being informed they qualified for it- still none of them knew for what exactly.

Right, so now that all that is clarified- Group Twelve. They sucked.

They weren't very strong. They weren't very good fighters. They couldn't pass all the psych tests. They couldn't finish the obstacle course to save their lives.

That was what they were doing right now, actually.

As a few of the other Groups watched off to the side, one of the Twelvies finally reached the top of a climbing wall. They huffed and puffed at the top for a moment before going to the other side and peering over the edge, into the dark hole below. The boy turned a very strange purplish color and tilted back away from the edge, landing hard on his rear and scooting away from the edge.

They didn't have particularly strong stomachs either, apparently.

Another Twelvie reached the top of the wall, looked at his purple companion, and walked over to nudge him with his boot. They talked quietly for a moment before the queasy boy got up and walked to the side opposite the abyss and faced it. He took a deep breath and held it, his face changing to another sickly color as he tried not to vomit, and sprinted across the platform. When he reached the edge he jumped with all the power he could muster, soaring through the air at a speed no normal human could manage.

This was good and all, but once he was airborne he couldn't seem to hold in his terror any longer and began screaming on his way down, making his landing, barely reaching the other side of the pit, rather rough and clumsy. The observing Groups laughed at him as he staggered to his feet and started running again. He stumbled through the rest of the obstacle course with all the grace and urgency of someone who just wanted it to be over, to the continuing amusement of the other Groups. The rest consisted of swimming a long dark pool that had a foot of metal over it to prevent you coming up for air, a series of tight spaces one had to squeeze through while determining which tiny hallway was the one not conducting electricity, and a wide field with many strips of wall sticking up out of it and several dozen towers that housed a variety of different types of projectile weapons.

The field tended to be the kicker for most made to brave the obstacle course. The only thing one had to do to complete the course was make it to the other side long enough to stand on the black square, which would immediately deactivate the weapons- all manned by AI's that tracked the DNA of whatever Group was on the course.

Miraculously, all of Group Twelve besides the two currently on the course had made it to the field, rather than all of them being gradually picked off by the different obstacles.

None of them had made it past the field of course, and no one expected them to, especially not the fool Twelvie who was afraid of heights. Someone else however…

The last Twelvie, the one who was currently dead last, could've easily made it to the field ages ago, and all in the audience knew it. They also all thought he was wasting his time.

The only reason he hadn't made it to the end yet was because he had spent all his time helping the other Twelvies through the obstacles. It was only because he helped them they even made it to the field in the first place.

Some of the other Groups couldn't help but think this was a waste of talent, many others simply thought he was a fool and as much a Twelvie as the rest of them, doomed to fail.

They might have been wrong.

Predictably the boy who was afraid of heights had his head almost blown off twenty seconds into the field. The instructor called off the weapons and pulled him out when the poor boy collapsed and just about peed himself.

That left the foolish Twelvie.

He made it to the field and stopped at its edge, looking out at the expanse of deadly towers and random walls that seemed to serve no other purpose than getting in the way.

He thought otherwise.

He sprinted onto the field at top speed, no less than four towers in his immediate vicinity springing to life and beginning to fire bullets at him. He weaved, a trail of lead ricocheting off the floor in his wake, leapt over a rocket(yes, a rocket) and cleared a fourth of the field.

Now more walls starting sprouting from the floor, blocking his path and forcing him to slow down to turn and thus be hit by the various incoming projectiles. At least, that was the idea. Rather than skidding around and trying to turn when a wall sprang from the floor, he leapt into the air, ran along it, and kicked off again, simultaneously dodging yet more bullets and rockets.

He found himself thinking whoever designed this course had something seriously wrong with their brain.

As he weaved between walls, his path a tangle of turns as he was forced to constantly take detours while still working his way towards the other side, he moved into the territory of the towers equipped with lasers.

As if he needed that, he already had rockets on his tail.

Struck with inspiration, he ran directly at an incoming laser beam and leapt to the side at the last second, allowing rockets to meet laser and giving birth to an explosion. The force threw him forward and he narrowly avoided being shot by another tower.

At this point he determined that dawdling was suicide, and made a mad dash for the black square.

The worst part wasn't when he felt the laser hit his back, or even that he was only a few meters away when it hit, not even that it threw him those extra feet right into the square. The worst part was that for a second he thought he could actually make it.

He landed on the square, and though the towers stopped shooting at him, it didn't light up and signal his completion of the course. It annoyed him when he heard a soft sigh of relief from the audience.

Of course, Twelvies can't finish the obstacle course, no way. If they did pigs might fly.

Bastards. All of them.

He resisted the urge to punch the square as he climbed to his feet, and risk looking more stupid than he felt. He got hit _one measly time_, and the thing didn't think it fit to give him the credit for his work? That was so screwed up.

He climbed from the course boundaries and the instructor waved a hand at him dismissively.

"'Group Twelve, unable to finish course.' You guys are done, get back to your chores."

The Twelvie grunted and stalked away, allowing himself the luxury of rubbing his back once he was distance away. Even with reinforced suits under their clothes ensuring they wouldn't be killed, those stupid lasers still hurt.

He was joined by the rest of his group, about eight others within one or two years of his age, one of which, his name was Sen though no one called him that, patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"It's alright, Alio. You'll get it next time." He told him. One of the other Twelvies made an exaggerated snort of disbelief.

"Yeah right. We're Twelvies, we don't do things right. The universe would implode or something."

"But we almost made it this time," Said another, the one Alio had helped at the climbing wall. "And Alio could have made it, he's not like the rest of us."

"Group Six would probably beg to differ." The other Twelvie said darkly. "And he isn't getting anywhere with us."

Sen frowned at him. "We aren't completely hopeless, today proves that."

The other scowled at him. "Only because Alio helped us. If he wasn't wasting so much time on us, he might have made it. He might as well just transfer to another Group, with teammates that don't hold him down."

"Alio's… gonna leave?" Asked the timid Twelvie. Said subject of conversation made a loud groan of exasperation.

"I'm not going anywhere." He said turning to them. He'd heard this all before, and the truth was though he was aware he would never get better training while in this Group, and they were all weaklings, they were _his_ weaklings. "Don't go talking about my future like I'm not here. You guys are not dead weight, and I'll waste my time as much as I like. Now, you coming or what?"

Just like that, he started to walk away. Sen jogged after him, sending one last glare in the direction of the depressing Twelvie. The rest of trailed after them.

**OoOoOoOoO**

His head ached. Being in the Cradle for long periods of time tended to do that.

The session had actually ended over an hour ago, and now he was just sitting there, too tired or too lazy to move, letting his thoughts wander in a dull haze.

Two weeks ago he turned sixteen, it had just kind of passed by without a whole lot of fuss. Only the usual stuff. Haruka usually spent a few hours with just the two of them, giving him something small and meaningful before she had to go to work again. This time she gave him a silver stud in the shape of a cross. She had laughed and said that she was never good at picking out gifts for boys, but she had heard of some kings who wore jewelry and she thought this just about suited his style. He had thanked her sincerely and she had made some self-mocking comment about her age that he denied vehemently. Haruka wasn't old; she was still quite young to have a son as old as he was.

Yuu usually celebrated Adam's birthday with teaching him an interesting trick or just a very widespread fight using everything from Voids to crystals. This time he had mentioned he had a special present for him, but he couldn't see it yet. He tried not to feel trepidation when it was mentioned.

Shu sighed and rubbed his eyes, his hand eventually migrating to rub his temples as well. He spent a lot of time in Loop 7 these days, if not plucking fragments from refugees then managing the Gatherers or just running around aimlessly. Even if it was only quasi-freedom, he liked it better than here. Tennouzu and the Undertakers only made Loop 7 a more entertaining playground.

He was considering taking a nap right there in his 'throne', without the whole astral projection part, when he heard the door open. There was only one person he knew of that wouldn't knock first.

"Shuichiro," He greeted, his voice somewhat deadpan and unwelcoming. He really wasn't in the mood for his uncle right now.

The man apparently did not take the hint, because he strode up to the King's throne as if he were taking an afternoon stroll. He had taken to wearing some sort of white regalia uniform that he seemed to fancy made him look noble and intimidating. Shu thought it made him look pompous.

Shuichiro had been rather… pushy lately. He claimed the young Adam wasn't locating the fragments fast enough. That they had been putting off the ceremony for too long already. He was being picky and invasive about what Shu did in Loop 7, something he did not appreciate. They had done a bit of experimenting, and it seemed the fragments could still be released from their host should said host die. The thing was it wasn't a guarantee the fragment wouldn't just find a new host instead of joining the main body, and Shu really preferred just plucking them out himself, no harm done to either party.

Of course Shuichiro couldn't care less for human lives.

As his uncle stepped up to the edge of the slight dais the Cradle perched on, Shu made it a point not to look at him. At times like this he liked that he was King, it gave him a universal excuse to be a haughty.

"This is taking too long." Shuichiro said. At least he was to the point.

"What is taking too long?" The young Adam responded drolly. Anyone else might have gotten frustrated and allowed him to not so subtly twist them around while they tried to get him to admit to something, Shuichiro was no such fool.

"The gathering of the fragments," He clarified calmly, though certain stiffness in his posture said that he was indeed rather annoyed. "Loop 7 is a wasteland, cut off and dying, how could it possibly be difficult to reap the fragments from a bunch of living corpses? What have you been doing there, besides wasting time?"

"As I recall, there is no rush." Shu countered. Shuichiro actually gave him a veiled glare.

"There wasn't a rush back before you ran about flaunting your existence to the world. GHQ cannot be kept in the dark forever, and adversaries to our cause will eventually begin to sprout from the woodwork. We must act before that."

_They already have._ Shu thought wryly. Aloud, he asked. "So what are you suggesting? I blow Loop 7 from the face of the earth?"

"If necessary."

The teen snorted. "Subtle."

The man said nothing, waiting while the young Adam stretched and sighed, rising from his throne.

"As valuable as your opinion is, uncle, I'm afraid I won't be acting in the disfavor of my 'playground'. I'll get the fragments, but at my own pace." He stepped past the man without looking at him, intent upon the door.

"Your own pace won't bring about the rebirth of the world any time soon." Shuichiro finally snapped lowly, voice harsh. "How long exactly do you plan to make your sister wait?" The last part he probably only added on to push the teen's buttons, and unfortunately he succeeded.

Shu whirled on his uncle, red eyes bright with barely contained anger. "If you were the one meant to decide the time of the world's rebirth, Shuichiro, _you_ would have been chosen to be Adam." He countered, watching with bitter satisfaction as his uncle tensed and his features twitched. Shuichiro would always consider it his greatest failure that he was unable to prevent Kurosu's children and Kurosu's children alone from becoming Adam and Eve, left with being little more than a pawn of convenience Daath had seen fit to draw into his servitude.

Leaving the bitter man to simmer, Shu turned on his heel and strode from the room without a backward glance, not entirely trusting himself not to pull his _uncle's_ head off as if he were a bug. His furious pace through the headquarters gradually died down as his anger left him and he was suddenly reminded of how tired he was. Relaxing to a more sedate pace, he couldn't help but sigh. He was so young, but sometimes he felt so old. He had an adults understanding of many things, and beyond an adults experience on many more things, but in a variety of ways he was still a teenager. Rebellious, temperamental, wrapped up in his emotions and all the big scary questions being thrown at him, although he was quite certain the kind of worries and responsibilities he had to deal with were far greater than other kids his age.

What Shuichiro didn't know wouldn't get Shu in trouble, but it seemed it was coming close to that. He had deliberately left out the existence of Tennouzu and the Undertakers from any reports he may have made in the last few weeks regarding Loop 7. He wanted to say it was out of whatever goodness there was left in his heart, but that would only be part of the truth. He was also just being somewhat rebellious and keeping a secret of his own. It was nice to have something that he alone was in control of.

He was happy, so, so happy, that Triton was alive and well. Although it grated on him that his best friend/adoptive brother was technically his enemy. He didn't want to be Triton's enemy, in fact he would probably love to fight along side him, but that wasn't a choice he could make.

Shu was very familiar with GHQ and its dark, putrid underbelly, so he couldn't say he blamed Triton for wanting to destroy them. He was quite aware that if any one was on the wrong side, it was him.

But right now he needed Daath, and by extension GHQ, if he was ever going to get Mana back. And while he hated to admit it, for all his cool powers and superiority, he was essentially at the mercy of his guardians.

_Not forever. _He told himself. He had long since accepted his fate of destroying the world and beginning it anew, and had come to accept the idea of mass genocide, even if it actually did bother him for all his strange and warped morals. However that didn't mean he wasn't still looking for some other way around this twisted destiny of his. He had also come to realize that allowing the Apocalypse to happen was essentially surrendering himself to an eternity enslaved to some high power he didn't believe in, and that Mana, the one person everyone tried to use to convince him to do this, would never want to live like that.

So, perhaps he wasn't quite ready to give in to Daath just yet. He blamed it on the phase he was going through, hormones or something like that. You don't need to be entirely human to have those after all.

Sometime during his musing, Shu had found his way to Mana's chamber, the one with the cage where her incomplete soul resided. Part of him wanted to talk to her, despite the fact that she was asleep and not entirely whole, just because it would help ease the ache in his heart. He sighed and sat on the steps to the dais.

He hated being lonely.

He lay back on the steps, resting his elbows on one and finally his head on another, looking up at the ceiling. "I'll save you this time, Mana." He murmured. She didn't answer of course.

With a sigh, he stared to hum. He couldn't recall if it was one Mana had taught him through his dreams, the ones he wasn't sure were actually dreams or something more, or one he had come up with himself. He didn't really care at the moment, he just needed something to distract himself and fill the silence.

Maybe it was because he was too immersed in the song that it took him a while to notice something was resonating with it. Resonating in the sense that it was sending back some sort of signal that made it bleep in his psychic radar. It was weird how it worked, but the easiest way to think of it. When something resonated with one of his songs, he was establishing a connection to it, even if only for however long the resonation was maintained.

Perplexed, Shu let the song die away, but even as the echo faded he could still sense that strange little something or other on the edge of his perception. As if it had only just realized his existence through his song, and was now hesitant to let this new awareness go and was clinging to the connection. He didn't recognize it, whatever it was, but it peeked his interest.

_Well, it's not like I have anything else to do._

He got to his feet and started walking.

To encourage this strange thing to lead him to its location, and keep it clear in his senses, he started humming again as he walked. He could almost see a thread in his minds eye, like the dotted line on a treasure map, leading him to where he was certain to find something new and fascinating. As he walked he concluded it was somewhere in the outer labs of GHQ, a place secure but out of the way. How odd for something that resonated with a song of Adam, and so could only be connected to Daath. When he exited the Daath part of the headquarters, he avoided running into too many people, since he was no longer in the areas where no one would question a teenager walking about as if he belonged there.

Getting to the lab was easy enough, even better was that it was evening, and so it was already empty of whoever may have been working there earlier. The issue was getting in. It was, as previously suspected, quite secure, and Shu had no access key. He may be Adam, but he wasn't technically supposed to leave the Daath underground, and in there he needed no key, because everyone was more than happy to let him anywhere he wanted. As such, he was at a loss. For about thirty seconds.

Shu knew next to nothing about computers, at least beyond simple things like surfing the net, but thankfully in this case, all he really needed was brute strength. He wasn't feeling very picky right now. The virus crystals pried open the door as he watched, and the poor piece of metal was left stuck within its slots as the teen strolled into the lab.

The first thing he noticed was that it wasn't dark. Dim yes, dark, no. This was because there was a large object resting to the side of the room that emitted a soft bluish glow. Shu had to blink at it a few times before his brain seriously accepted that it was there, even then he had to study it very intensely before he convinced himself it was really there.

It looked just like the Cocoon. Except blue. Tall and egg shaped and made of crystal, a kind of faint light captured within its body. It was pretty in an eerie kind of way, and it was this blue cocoon that was resonating with him.

With his senses, he prodded at it, trying to feel what it was about it that was calling to him. When this proved ineffective, he stepped closer and after a moment of hesitation rested his hand against the cocoons surface. Yuu had once told how he had done this when he was in the Cocoon, though he had never explained in detail. The teen tried now to reach into the pods depths and seek whatever it contained- that seemed the only logical reason it was here after all.

When he found what he was looking for he stepped back in surprise, looking at the crystal pod with new fascination. There was definitely something alive in here, but it felt… new somehow. And familiar. Familiar in a way it really shouldn't have been. Adding to that his suspicion that his uncle had something to do with this, simply because this seemed like something he would do, he was starting to get a picture here.

Well, there was only one way to make sure.

He reached up and placed his index finger high on the crystals surface. If he turned out to be wrong… oh well. He could probably make a convincing copy with his own crystals if he felt like it, if not, he could plead innocent if and when Yuu chewed him out for doing something he wasn't supposed to.

With that semi-clarified, he drew his finger down over the cocoons surface, at a steady, medium speed. Cracks followed the path his finger created, spreading out further and further, converting the pristine surface of the pod into hundreds of tiny crystal fragments. He stopped when he could no longer comfortably drag his finger down, and watched as a huge chunk of the pod crumbled and fell to the floor. Not unlike his own awakening from hibernation, a neat window had been created into the pods interior, and pale smoke flooded from within in a misty cloud.

Shu took a deep breath and released it, folding his arms and leaning his weight on one leg. "Well," He smirked crookedly. "That's… interesting."

There was a girl inside the cocoon. All curled up like a baby in a womb, her eyes closed, pale hair that darkened to a light pink down its length spread around her head. She was pretty, Shu thought. Pale and perfect and pretty. Curious, he reached in and brushed aside some of her hair to get a better look at her face, it was wavy in a way that reminded him of confetti, and soft to the touch. He'd thought her hair color was a little odd, but it was her face that really made his eyebrows shoot up.

"Oh Shuichiro… you _bastard_."

She looked like Mana. Not exactly like her perhaps, but far too alike for the resemblance to be coincidental. Frankly Shu could probably guess what this was about. They may have Mana's soul in due time, but she did disintegrate nearly nine years ago. Her soul had to go somewhere.

Even so, this girl wasn't Mana. She looked like her, but she wasn't. She was just a girl. A girl who probably knew nothing about anything, having been created for the sole purpose of becoming the vessel for another. It made him kind of sad, that life had been created but would have no chance to live.

"You are alive aren't you?" He murmured, stroking the girl's cheek. She really looked a lot like Mana. He didn't expect a response, he normally didn't get one, no matter whom he was talking to, but the girl shifted slightly, a soft murmur slipping through her lips.

Surprised, but perhaps a bit pleased, Shu pulled back to give the girl space, then thought better of it. If she really had never seen the world before now, it may be better if he was close by to lend assistance. He knew he wasn't supposed to be doing this, even though he was now certain Shuichiro had something to do with this and given the nature of it, he was also certain Yuu did too, but he still wanted to see this girl. Interact with her. He had seen too much death for a teen and for once wanted to see some pure, unadulterated life. And frankly he felt like screwing with his guardian's plans, just for the hell of it. What could they do to him? He was their precious Adam.

The girl in the pod shifted some more, her eyelids crinkling, but not opening, and her fingers twitching around as her hands gradually started to feel out her position. Shu waited patiently as she moved for what was probably the first time ever, touching her own face and body as if ensuring it was all part of her. Eventually she decided she wanted to get up, and started bracing her arms on the surface below her, she got about halfway upright before she slipped.

Shu caught her before she had fully processed she had fallen to begin with. His hands found her shoulders and he helped her sit up, and he found he had to hold her there or risk letting her fall over again without his support. He doubted he could have let go anyway, because the second she felt someone else touching her she wrapped her hands around his arms, whether for the support or because she was curious about the touch of another person, he didn't know.

After sitting for a moment, the girl opened her eyes, revealing reddish jewels that once again had him thinking of Mana. But no, he noticed, they weren't quiet the same. If not in color then in the emotion conveyed. Mana always had something in her eyes, whether it was happiness or humor or fear or anguish, this girl simply had nothing. She likely didn't even know what emotion was.

_We'll work on that._ Shu thought, smiling a little as the girl blinked slowly, eyes eventually traveling to the person who held her.

"Good morning, sleepy head. Or, good evening as I think you'll find." He greeted her, smile growing a little when she just looked at him, eyes only widening slightly, expression one of childish, newborn wonder and curiosity.

He tilted his head at her, unsure how to proceed. What exactly did you say to a newborn with the body of a teenage girl? She was created, he knew that much, but did she have any basic knowledge? He wasn't sure how that worked.

"Do you know what I'm saying?" It was as good a place to start as any. The girl just looked at him. He tilted his head, pursing his lips. "Um… If you do understand, nod your head, like this," He demonstrated. "If not, shake your head." He demonstrated that, too. She stared at him some more, before, very slowly, as if slightly unsure, she nodded.

Shu smiled, he was getting somewhere. "Okay then, great. Can you speak at all? Either you understand words but don't know how to say them, or you just haven't had any practice. Care to give it a shot?"

She blinked a few times, looking away, her lips opened and closed a few times, but no sound came out. She looked at him again, releasing his arm with one hand and touching her throat, her gaze questioning. He raised his eyebrows.

"Hm? That's your throat, your vocal cords are in there somewhere if that's what you're wondering. Talking is fairly instinctual, you were making noise earlier, but language is a bit harder. I'll understand if you can't speak properly." He told her. She seemed to understand, and looked away again, crinkling her brow.

"…I…can…talk." She said slowly, her voice soft and awkward, as she tried to pronounce the words the way she had heard him do it. Clearly she had the knowledge, but none of the experience, Shu realized.

"Great," He smiled, and she blinked at him some more, as if the expression both confused, and fascinated her. He looked down at her and suddenly realized he'd forgotten something. "You're probably cold." He said, carefully sliding his arms from her grasp so he could remove his coat. She looked down at herself, expression vacant.

"Cold…?" She repeated, touching her bare stomach with equally bare hands. Shu couldn't help but chuckle a little under his breath. The concept seemed so foreign to her. It was kind of cute.

He draped his coat around her shoulders, as good looking as she was he thought he'd be a gentleman and spare her dignity, even if she didn't know she had any. He secured a few buttons to make sure she wouldn't start flashing him unintentionally, and then started to back away to give her some space. He was only mildly surprised when her newly sleeved hand reached out to grab his shirt.

"Who…you…?" She almost had a full sentence. He smiled at her again and pried her fingers from his shirt, instead cradling her small hand in his own.

"I'm Shu." He introduced. She looked into his eyes with her big innocent ones. He wondered if she yet recognized how his were so full of dark things while hers were so clear.

"Shu." She parroted. He nodded. She seemed to think for a moment, and then reached up to touch her free hand to her chest. "Who am I, Shu?"

His smile faded. That was a difficult question to answer. He'd gotten this far, now what? He couldn't just call her Mana, that would be insensitive to both of them, but he wasn't about to call her 'copy' or 'vessel' or some other such nonsense either. She was a person, and created or not, she deserved her own name.

"Well, for starters, you are you." Shu said, making the girl blink in confusion. He smiled and rested a hand on her soft pink hair. "But since you ought to have a name, how about we call you…Inori. Do you like that name?"

Her eyes were wide, her expression one of wonder. "'Like'…?" She said it like she wasn't entirely sure what it meant. "'Inori'…?" She thought for a moment, if her intense look of concentration was anything to go by. "Like… I like…Inori." She suddenly smiled, a tiny, new expression that she was just trying out, but made her look absolutely heavenly. "My name is Inori."

Shu smiled, too. "I'm glad you like it. Nice to meet you, Inori."

Yes, he could use someone pure and innocent to balance his dark pessimism. He had a soft spot for a pretty face in him somewhere yet. Shuichiro could take a hike. He was sick of being alone.

After all, King's always get what they want.

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_Whoa, I'm seeing some familiar faces in there. Aren't you?_

_If not, maybe I should have my head examined._

_RIP Socrates._

_Read, review, suggest, mourn with me, send 'get well' cards to my poor dead goldfish, yell at me for reasons I can't think of right now, have a cookie._

_MB_


	10. Familiar

_**AN: **I...er... Chapter. Done. Yeah._

_I'm kind of a slow writer okay? I when I get stuck- I don't even mean badly stuck, I just mean no immediate ideas- I walk away and forget about the whole thing for a week or two. Plus, I've been busy. That's basically all I've got. ^^; Sorry._

_If it makes you feel better, I'm really emotional about my writing, and every time a week went by, I worried about how my readers and reviewers were going to feel when they saw I hadn't updated. I always felt sad when someone didn't update the stories I read._

_This chapter...came out differently than I meant. I even had to add another chapter after it because I ultimately couldn't fit everything. Oh well, it means I get to update sooner. Not my best work, there may be some mistakes, but I really wanted to update because it's been...like... over a month? That feels like a long time to me..._

_ALSO-__ I have an idea: considering it may be taking me longer to get chapters out, I could try uploading Bonus Chapters, little things with any of the characters that occur but aren't of enough significance to make the final cut. I won't make any of those silly little skit things, Omak-somethings? But if you guys are okay with it, I could probably whip up some mini-chapters with other characters besides the main or just things that happen on the side. Think about it._

_I Do Not Own Guilty Crown, and as such shall consider marrying it or its oh-so-awesome music. Because Krone and Release My Soul make me sad EVERY DAMN TIME._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Familiar_

Tennouzu was under attack. Again.

They had started to notice a kind of pattern in the attacks, at least when they tended to happen. Usually, there was a noticeable assault on their base every two weeks, give or take a day, not counting the occasional lone Gatherer that sniffed a bit too close for comfort or happened to come across an outside patrol. Sometimes the period between those attacks were pretty peaceful, and sometimes there would be some random, sudden attack at some odd hour of the day, which were completely unpredictable. Some thought it annoying, most others simply settled into it as routine after the fourth or fifth attack. People didn't even freak out anymore when Gemhead suddenly fell from the sky and made some crude comment about their defenses.

That's what they'd started calling their resident crystal nemesis, who was also something of a- well, not really a friend, but something like it. The Undertakers had come to refer to him as a 'neighbor', a force of their environment that was neither with them nor against them, and they had no choice but to live with. Recently Gai had begun muttering things about Gemhead 'testing' them with the steady stream of monsters it seemed to be directing towards them. Also, when it came to Gemhead, 'he' was considered synonymous with 'it', simply because the strange being tended to avoid any questions directed at him, if he was close enough for conversation at all. Since that first exchange, it had mostly just been spotted observing from afar, sometimes being glimpsed wandering Loop 7, or in close quarters with the Gatherers, in which case no one felt like taking the risk to go and say hi.

Anyway, this time was no different than usual, except that perhaps this time the Gatherers that had attacked were on the smaller and wilier side, and the Undertakers were having a bit of trouble rounding them up. A number were being forced to chase the small crystal-human hybrids through the maze of shacks. One, a student recruit, skidded around a corner after his quarry and suddenly had a face full of monster. It clung to his chest, digging its claws into his shoulders, and started trying to chew his ears off. He stumbled around, screaming, and shoved a fist into the creature's mouth to keep it from biting his face. In his panic, he managed to keep enough of his wits to hold onto his weapon, and twisting his other arm up stabbed the gun barrel into its eye and fired.

The things head exploded and he fell to his knees in exhaustion, exhaling in relief. He had to pry the corpse's claws from his flesh, and it hurt, but he was alive, he still had both ears, and he could probably hide here until the attack was over. He didn't think he was fit to chase any more demonic monkeys.

"_Nicely done, the eye is probably the weakest part._"

He shrieked and looked up. Gemhead squatted in the narrow space only a few meters away, tall, skinny body hunched to fit into the significantly smaller space. It seemed to be making an effort not to be conspicuous. The creature lifted its hand and bent its fingers repeatedly, in what appeared to be a lackadaisical wave.

"_Boo._"

He passed out just then, a red light briefly overtaking his vision before he was engulfed by black.

'Gemhead' looked at the tiny little bulb of light in his enormous hand, crooked smile unseen behind his black face. He closed his fist around the sphere, a red glow shining briefly through his fingers, and when he opened his hand it was gone.

In his crystal form, he was incapable of yawning, so the feeling that normally came with the action felt strange. He determined this was a sign that he had done enough for the day.

And, just like that, the Gatherers disappeared as fast as they appeared, and when the Undertakers regained their wits they noticed that Gemhead was nowhere to be found either. Most of them didn't know whether to be relieved, or disappointed. Most of them were also somewhat alarmed upon realizing this. Funny how that works.

**OoOoOoOoO**

When he woke up, Shu was finally able to yawn for real. He stretched, like a cat after a long nap, and ran a hand through his hair. He ached. And he was tired. Significantly tired. And the day wasn't anywhere close to over.

He recalled Yuu saying something the other day about having some sort of gathering with the test subjects. It didn't seem like a bad idea, since the majority of the subjects had never even seen him before. All they knew was what their instructors passed on or gossiped about. The thing was he was fairly certain it was going to involve him and Yuu being showy and destructive with their powers, and he wasn't really in the mood right now.

He needed to start taking naps. Like, _real_ naps. Where he actually slept. It was easier said than done.

The door creaked open, and Shu watched its movement lazily. He smiled a little when a pink head poked through and peered in at him. When she met his eyes, she entered quickly and made her way to the Cradle, not even bothering to close the door. She climbed onto an outcropping of crystal on his right, at about the same level of his armrest. This had become something of her official perch.

"Did I make you wait long, Inori?" He asked, smiling. She shook her head, and picked up his hand, cradling it in her lap.

"It wasn't that long. I wasn't bored." She said. She reached into her shawl and pulled out a purple string. Returning Shu's hand, she began twisting the string between her fingers. When she was satisfied, she held out her creation. "I practiced." She told him, presenting the cat's cradle to him shyly.

He smiled. The string had perhaps been his first gift to her. "That's great. You're getting really good." He praised. She flushed a little, happy, and looked away as she began to play with the string in her lap, her fingers moving rapidly. She said nothing more, and he closed his eyes and leaned against her shoulder a little.

Inori had become his constant companion, and she had taken to him as if he were the source of life itself. He was like her sun; he made her feel warmth and showed her new things. She, in contrast, was like his oxygen; pure and sweet, and made it possible for him to breathe more easily in this corrupted, stifling world.

Shuichiro had been very unhappy when he learned just what his nephew had done with his little experiment. Shu had worried he might be punished, or worse, that Inori would be taken away from him, but he hadn't let this fear show and had stood his ground, daring his uncle to try and stop him. He looked like he might have, but then Yuu stepped in. To Adam's surprise, his mentor found it beyond amusing that the 'copy' they had created had become so attached to Shu, and followed him around like a lost kitten. To Shuichiro's annoyance, Yuu had allowed him to 'keep her', saying something about letting Adam have jurisdiction over toys that were rightfully his to begin with. Shu wasn't sure how he felt about that statement, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth and ignored it.

Someone was humming. Shu was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't notice it at first, but once he did he found himself sliding into bliss. It took him a moment to realize it was Inori.

"You have a nice voice, Inori." He commented, making the pink haired girl blink in surprise. She hardly even seemed to realize she was doing it in the first place.

"You…think so?" She queried, thoughtful and curious. He nodded earnestly.

"Absolutely. You like singing don't you? You should try writing a song."

She looked down at her hands, where the cat's cradle sat limply. "I don't know what I'd sing about." She said softly.

"That's alright." He assured her, smiling comfortingly. "Songs don't need to be literary genius, just truthful, emotional. If you could sing your thoughts, or put your heart into the song, it would be more than enough."

Inori gazed at him, tilting her head slowly. "Shu's songs… have no words?" She said it something like a question, as if she wasn't sure how else to phrase it.

"My feelings are too indiscriminate to put into words," He chuckled wryly. "Not necessarily a good thing, but I don't think any lyrics I write would be any good anyway." He stood and stretched some more, brushing wrinkles from his black regalia, only worn willingly after having it toned down to personal preferences. He cared more about maneuverability than appearance after all. "Keep it in mind, I'm sure you can come up with something." He offered her a hand. "Shall we?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

He was late, and it wasn't his fault.

He was swearing in a grand total of four languages, silently of course, as he ran through the halls as fast as his legs could carry him, which for a genetic experiment, is pretty darn fast.

He was fairly certain Group Six only dumped their chore on him out of some petty sense of cruelty or sadism, hoping to delay him enough that he would get punished for being tardy, or not show up at all and miss a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was such a big deal that not a single Group was being left out. They were even attending as a kind of side note along with the actual followers, legitimate members of Daath, who in comparison to the test subjects were like real people over dolls. That's all they really were unless they were chosen for something, that's why they tried so hard, so they could rise from being dirt on the shoes of the organization to being human, of importance.

The Gravekeeper, who could also be considered Daath in human form, had suddenly intruded upon a Group gathering and announced that he was inviting them all to what he called a 'performance'. They had all leapt at the chance; they were always being preached things about the goals of Daath, of their destined King Adam, but they'd never really seen him before. The supervisors said it was because they were merely test subjects, if they proved themselves and moved up the ranks, maybe they'd get to meet him, but not likely. He had been bitterly amused when he overheard them later and realized that followers rarely came into contact with Adam either. It sounded as though when he wasn't busy with whatever duties future kings have, he kept to himself.

So back in the now, he was late for aforementioned performance and was now running for what may well be considered dear life. He simply couldn't afford to miss this.

Of course the universe hated him though, and despite moving as fast as possible, he was actually looking where he was going, and so when he came around a corner and saw a small form and pale head of hair, he did all in his power to stop and thus not harm anyone unintentionally. It's just as luck would have it, in his haste to stop, he tripped gracelessly, and did a most spectacular face plant.

On the outside, he didn't move once he had settled onto the floor. On the inside, he wanted to scream in frustration. Why was he always a klutz at the most inopportune times?

_Just kill me. I'm done. I give up._

He'd never make it now.

He thought he heard something, a voice directly in front of him that he couldn't quite distinguish. Oh, right. He'd almost run someone over.

_Well, this is embarrassing…_

Maybe if he just lay there they'd think he was dead and leave him alone. Would it be more damaging to his dignity to stay where he was and look like road kill, or get up and face his audience? They both had different appeal. He took his time deliberating, and eventually gave an internal sigh and chose the latter. He pushed himself from the floor onto his elbows before he looked up.

There was a pair of clear red eyes barely two inches from his own blue ones.

He had to fight the urge to swear very loudly and settled for jerking back a bit in surprise. The eyes blinked innocently, the pale, pretty face they were set in blank aside from a faintly puzzled air.

The girl looked at him. "He's alive." She said in a soft, flat voice. She almost seemed to be talking to herself, just stating the obvious for the hell of it.

"Um…" Was his eloquent response. The girl just tilted her head briefly, then turned to look behind her, long, wavy pink hair falling over her shoulder as she did so.

"Shu, he's still alive." She informed the figure behind her. "Why did he throw himself at the ground?"

He twitched, whether out of embarrassment or annoyance, he couldn't really tell. "I'm right here you know."

The person behind the girl chuckled. "I think you'll find that has more to do with gravity than anything he did, Inori." Said a male voice, the speaker stepping closer to rest a hand on her head. He stared up at the two of them, the boy especially, and suddenly his eyes widened.

"_You_?"

The teen before him raised an eyebrow, studying him, and then recognition flickered over his features. "Oh, I remember you. Alio right?" He smiled a little and extended a hand. "How long has it been? Two years?"

"Almost three." Alio responded, eyeing the hand warily before he took it. The teen didn't seem to think it was strange that he knew how long it had been since that brief encounter, not unlike this one, in an unassuming hallway when they were fourteen, if his assessment of the other's age was accurate. He studied the teen, and his odd friend, and seriously felt as if he was missing something.

The young man before him wasn't really all that different from the one he remembered, taller admittedly, lean and pale, brown hair almost brushing his shoulders and were it not partially pulled back would probably completely hide his eyes. He wore an entirely black ensemble, some sort of elegant black coat with a turtle neck collar, he also had a single silver stud in his left ear, in the shape of a cross.

His female friend Alio had never seen before. Aside from the pink hair, which, believe it or not, appeared to be natural, she wore some kind of white dress mostly hidden beneath a black shawl and black shoes that looked more like socks and covered the majority of her legs. She stood close to the teen, one hand loosely holding his sleeve, as if to make sure if he started moving she would be going with him.

They both had red eyes. The boy's perhaps a harder, more solid red than the girls.

There was something bugging him at the back of his mind. He knew he was missing something; he just couldn't seem to remember what it was.

"Were you heading to the Moving room for the session?" The teen asked, startling the test subject from his thoughts.

"I…was." He looked away, expression dark. "I probably won't make it in time though. Just my luck I suppose."

The other didn't seem so sure, and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, you'll make it with plenty of time."

Alio lifted a skeptical brow. "What makes you so sure?"

The girl gave him a blank look. "It can't start without Shu. We can delay as long as we want." She said, as if it were obvious.

He wrinkled his brow in confusion. "Can't start without…?" That funny little thing in the back of his head was bugging him again. He could vaguely recall some gossip amongst the test subjects that had likely been inadvertently passed along by their instructors regarding Adam. Only two things really stood out from that particular memory. "_Young_" and "_Red Eyes_".

This is the part where two and two make four, and Alio almost loses his eyeballs they pop out so much.

"_You_." He brain was in disarray, and his voice wasn't helping. "You're not- I mean you- er- " He closed his mouth to prevent himself from saying something more stupid.

The teen- no, _Adam_- smiled crookedly, seeming to find his floundering amusing. "We were never properly introduced were we?"

Alio released a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "No," He said. "We weren't."

"I'd be lying if I said that wasn't my intention." The King admitted, shrugging. He held out a hand. "I suppose better late than never? My name is Shu, but for the past decade or so I've been called Adam, whichever you prefer." After a brief hesitation on Alio's part, they shook hands, and Adam gestured to the girl. "And this is Inori. She's…well, she's a friend."

Inori tilted her head at him, crystalline red eyes inquisitive. Despite having a childish kind of way of studying him, her gaze was so unabashed and piercing that he felt like she was seeing into his soul. A little unnerving, but he didn't shy away.

"So," Adam smiled at him pleasantly, and gestured he follow as he began walking. "How have you been doing?"

"Okay…" Alio answered warily, and then gestured vaguely to his collar. "I mean, about as okay as I can be, especially being a notorious failure and all."

Adam frowned a little, and Inori cast him a look that she might have intended to look surprised, but didn't quite get past a few blinks and a sidelong gaze. "You don't seem like a failure." She said bluntly. He lifted a surprised eyebrow- he'd half expected the King and those whose company he kept to be full of themselves. Apparently not.

"I'm flattered you think so." He responded. "I'll admit, I'm stronger than the rest of my Group, and worked hard to be that way, but I'm not likely to ever be considered worth something." He shrugged, as if it didn't matter, and added on thoughtfully. "Unless this secret thing they've signed me up for is actually a miracle in disguise, which I highly doubt."

"Secret thing?" Adam lifted a brow. It occurred to the test subject that the King might know what the 'secret thing' was.

"Some sort of experiment they sometimes pluck subjects up for. They never really explain what it is we're in for, and those people don't ever come around again." Alio elucidated. He twisted his mouth into a crooked, sardonic smile. "You can guess why I'm not hopeful."

Adam said nothing, but his expression darkened, and Alio knew his suspicious were likely correct. He'd accepted such a fate a long time ago. That didn't mean he was happy about it.

They spoke no more before they reached their destination, or rather, the place where they parted ways. Alio was to be observing from a lower deck with the other subjects, below where the followers would be. Adam would likely be entering from elsewhere.

"Alio," The teen stopped him before he could leave. "I was thinking, would you…"

"Shu," A voice cut in, and they all turned. Adam's expression flickered, then settled into a cool mask.

"Shuichiro." He greeted, something barely noticeable in his tone seemed to say he was annoyed at the older mans appearance.

"You're late." The Chief informed him, approaching at a sedate pace before halting before them.

"I beg to differ." Adam scoffed. "A King can hardly be late for his own performance. And anyway, I came when I was meant to, I merely took my time getting here."

Shuichiro did not appear convinced by this explanation, and ran his gaze over the others present, mild displeasure flashing through his hard brown eyes when passing over Inori, and eventually resting on Alio. The test subject stiffened, some part of him wondered if he ought to stand firm and show no fear or run for dear life. He ultimately couldn't decide and just stood there.

Shuichiro's gaze flicked to the collar around Alio's neck. "Why aren't you with the other subjects? The… performance should have already started." The man addressed him, but he didn't seem interested in hearing an answer, because he turned back to Adam. "You took your time getting here? I find that hard to believe. Slowing down to fraternize with worthless experiments however…" The last part was something most men would have muttered, rather than say directly to their King, but the Chief was not a timid man, and would not be intimidated by a boy half his age. His voice was cold and blunt and disapproving and on the brink of sneer, as if he only expected it of the one called Adam.

Alio was downright shocked that the man implied such a thing in such a manner, and found himself instinctively wilting beneath his hard eyes and degrading tone. He'd thought he'd grown used to it from the scientists and instructors, but they were nothing compared to this man.

Adam's expression did not change, but his red eyes seemed to smolder, and his jaw tightened- it was as close to scowling Alio had seem him yet.

Which was why he was surprised when the teen suddenly smiled with such warm pleasantness that it was obvious he was faking, and he wanted everyone to know it. "You know, Shuichiro, since you're here, there was something I wanted to tell you." He smiled some more, making the man wrinkle his brow slightly in suspicion. Adam rested a hand on Alio's shoulder, closing the distance between them in a blink, and continued to address his uncle. "This is Alio, I've chosen him as my personal vassal. Great choice don't you think?" He practically glittered with false cheeriness, but there was something very smug and disdainful in his tone. In the face of their surprise, he plowed on before anyone could argue. "I'm planning on verifying it with Yuu after the session, but I'm sure he'll think it's a great idea. Speaking of which, you wanted to get this show on the road didn't you? We shouldn't just be standing around here talking then should we? Let's go Inori, Alio."

Just like that, Adam steered the confused test subject around and headed down the opposite corridor Shuichiro had come from, Inori following after him obediently. For some reason, the Chief didn't try to stop them.

When he was well out of sight, Adam stopped and sighed, running a hand through his bangs. He smiled crookedly at Alio, who just stared at him. "I'm sorry about that, my uncle is a bastard." He apologized. The test subject wasn't sure whether he ought to be surprised or honored or both that the King was actually apologizing to him.

"Were you serious?" He asked slowly. "About… or was that just…" He didn't know how to say it. He didn't want to dare to hope. Adam peered at him, then his smile became a bit more genuine and friendly. He made a funny kind of laugh, as if embarrassed.

"I was, actually. I was going to ask you before Shuichiro showed up, and at that point it just kind of slipped out." The King explained, toying with Inori's hair absently. "It's okay if you don't want to. Regardless of what I said back there, it's your choice."

Alio opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, speechless. His brain had temporarily come to a screeching halt upon being presented with a very unexpected hazard, leaving him with yet more unexpected decisions. It sounded almost too good to be true, becoming something of a personal aide to Adam would mean he'd never have to look at another obstacle course or syringe ever again, but Alio wasn't naïve enough to think that getting out of being a test subject immediately excluded him from the hardships of life. He didn't even really know what Adam did outside of a few vague duties only detailed in rumors and through indirect sources.

But… could it really be any worse than the fate he was currently facing?

Alio's mind whirled around the possibilities, pros and cons, and Adam waited patiently, despite his previous mention of being late for the performance. It could wait.

"…Why?" He eventually asked. Even if he was possibly passing up the chance of a lifetime, he really had to know. Adam blinked, opened his mouth, closed it, and finally settled for looking thoughtful.

"Good question." He said, adopting a thinker pose.

Alio didn't know whether to be horrified, or laugh. The King was really defying all expectations, not in a bad way though. Adam saw the look on his face and managed to look a little sheepish.

"I guess I never had a real reason, but do I need one? I like you, and the whole vassal thing seemed like the only way I could help you out." He shrugged a bit. "The experiment you mentioned earlier… it's not a good thing. Not at all. If I can, I'd like to save you from that. That is," He extended a hand, smiling faintly. "If it's alright with you."

Alio stared at the hand for the better part of a minute, coming to his decision. If he was honest with himself, he kind of liked Adam, too. He was the kind of person he'd want as a friend: his honesty, humor, quiet strength… the simple way he treated him like a human being.

Inori peered over Adam's shoulder at the test subject, and at the King's hand held between them. She tugged tilted her head and looked to the one she leaned on. "Is Alio a… friend, Shu?" She asked, hesitating in a way that made it seem she was making sure she was using the word correctly. He glanced at her but said nothing.

She looked at Alio. "Are you?"

He looked back, from her to Adam, and then away. Finally he sighed, not an exasperated one, or a sad one, or an angry one. It was more like amused resignation.

He took the offered hand. "I guess so."

Adam smiled. Inori did, too. Two sets of red eyes glittered faintly.

Alio had to resist the urge to say- or even think- something along the lines of _I guess my luck is finally looking up._

He didn't want to jinx it.

**OoOoOoOoO**

_**AN:**_

_Holy crap, how did that happen?_

_Inori is going to be somewhat OOC, mainly due to her changed circumstances. I personally think of it this way: when Gai found her, he mainly taught her how to be a useful and deadly addition to his group, and things like emotion would get in the way of that. In this, however, Shu is more interested in nurturing her as a person, and so treats her with affection and encourages her to ask questions and try things out so she can develop her own likes and dislikes._

_But anyway, you like? The part with Alio...had me stuck for a while. I wasn't sure how to word it, and I think it shows. But at least I wrote it, right?_

_Whatever. I just want you all to know I love you- no, not like THAT- and please await, with all much-appreciated patience, the next chapter._

_Read, review, love me, hate me, throw cabbage at me(no really, I like cabbage), eat me...okay maybe not that. I don't taste very good._

_MB_


	11. Belief

_AN: I...I...I'M BAAAAAA~AAAAAAAAACK. O-o_

_Yeah...Happy New Year I guess?_

_I just kind of...sat down and did this...it's longer than it should be...I just finished so...it hasn't been proof read or anything...there are some less-than-shiny parts...the fight scene especially...whatever._

_IT'S DONE. That's what matters. I f****n sick of this chapter. I want to move on. I'm sure you do as well._

_I Own Nothing__. Except Alio. He's AAAAAALLLLLLL mine._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

_Belief_

It was weird how one meeting—one _conversation_ really—could totally change your life. He could learn to appreciate it.

"Oi, Alio, where the hell you been?" One of his friends, a fellow outcast, a Twelvie, grabbed his wrist and dragged him through the knee deep test subjects, all crowded and squished together where they sat on the balcony, the huge mechanical room where the 'performance' was taking place open before them. He let them pull him to where the rest of his Group was, squirreled away off to the side. They had actually managed to get a spot with a decent view, despite being considered the weakest and most pathetic of the Groups.

His Group welcomed him, some looking relieved, others smiling at him understandingly, able to guess what had taken him. Well, maybe not. They would never think that he had run into the King of all people, and now, technically, no longer qualified as a test subject. Adam had suggested that he sit with his friends for the performance—he could tell them what happened or not, it was up to him—but that afterwards he would not be returning to the division reserved for testing. He had told Alio just to meet him once it was over and he'd tell him what he needed to know from there. It was only as the former test subject made his way to the balcony after they'd separated that it really dawned on him just what he'd accepted.

He wasn't just an experiment anymore. He might not be free, he had just sworn himself to Adam after all, but he was. As the King's Vassal, he essentially outranked everyone besides a specific few. All of the followers, the test subjects, the scientists, his old instructors—none of them could tell him what to do anymore.

_Ah… sweet, sweet pseudo-freedom. _

He'd rather have that than be a test subject any day.

"Alio?" It was Sen, looking at him with concerned, dark eyes. "Are you alright?"

He smiled at his fellow, his poor, ignorant comrade who had been with him through what was probably the lowest existence of his short life. The expression wasn't as reassuring as he would have liked, he was still mentally shaken by his recent encounter, by the possible futures.

He wasn't a Twelvie anymore. He was leaving his Group members, boys he had come to think of as rowdy younger brothers he had to swat for bickering and occasionally lift from the mud when they were too dejected to do so themselves. Leaving them behind for bigger and better things.

His expression flickered.

"_What… what about the other test subjects?"_

_Adam raised a brow. "What about them?"_

"_I…"_

He'd already come to terms with the simple act of leaving them. He was already chosen for that unknown, clearly dangerous experiment. He had decided they would survive without him when he had realized his death was all but guaranteed.

"_You can tell them about your new status if you want," The King shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me, they'll probably find out on their own once it becomes official. I'll probably only be able to get away with this because I've never done it before, and Yuu likes to spoil me."_

_He could read between the lines here. Adam was important and influencial, but even he had some rules he needed to abide by, rules he was already bending as much as they would._

_He couldn't do anything for the rest of Group Twelve._

He'd been planning to say goodbye to them. Tell them of his impending induction into the mysterious experiment that none of them knew the truth of yet instinctually understood it wasn't something they wanted to be chosen for. He'd been prepared to watch the realization spread over their faces and deal with their inevitable misery. He'd already dropped a hint or two when he'd been too busy reeling from the news and unable to hide his own horror. Likely why Sen and the others seemed more concerned about his whereabouts than usual.

He trusted them enough to tell them he was going to die. Now that he wasn't…?

Could he really burden them with the knowledge he was abandoning them now?

"_I'd like to save you from that," A hand was extended. "If it's alright with you."_

He closed his eyes and sighed.

It was only abandonment if he forgot to come back.

"I'm fine."

He still couldn't bring himself to say it.

**OoOoOoOoO**

Shu was meditating. Or at least trying to. He was solidifying his inner self, sinking into a state where nothing could shake him, where he wasn't a boy but a King, and that's all there was to it. Just him and the phantom of the virus that shared a certain portion of his soul. He felt a gentle touch on his arm and opened one eye to see Inori looking at him with a faintly inquiring expression. He smiled at her.

Okay, so he wasn't totally alone. He'd already thought out this part of things, and having mentioned it to Yuu ahead of time, he was certain this was only going to boost his image amongst the followers. Not that he really needed any more of that.

At the very least, he could make this—rather silly and uneccesary in his opinion—ceremony or performance somewhat enjoyable for himself.

Behind him, in the Moving room, Shu could vaguly hear Yuu speaking to the assembled subjects. He addressed them warmly, his deceptively youthful voice carrying easily. He spoke words laced with poison and temptation, dark promises and an evil smirk on the face of a being that only resembled a human teen. Shu didn't really listen to what was being said, but he could tell by the stark silence aside from his mentors voice that he had everyone's absolute attention, and they drank up every word.

Whenever he himself heard the goals of Daath and the means through which they intended to achieve them laid out, plain and simple, he was both skeptical, and disgusted. What they intended for the world was really only a form of destroying it. Destroying it to, as they said, recreate it anew. New life comes from the dead, like the lush rebirth after the ice age.

But the world didn't _need_ to be reborn did it? It was covered in life; so much it was almost overflowing. Sure, it had problems, but so what? Why did the creation of a new civilization have to involve the demolition of the one that already existed? What gave them the right to decide that?

It was cruel and selfish, and Shu was fairly certain most of the followers were pulled into this by the sugar coating and clever manipulation of the truth, carefully worded into sounding like some sort of great plan for the salvation of mankind, when it was really anything but. There are a lot of people in the world—a lot—and plenty of them are willing to believe that some girl and boy are going to bring about the Apocalypse to cleanse the earth and allow mankind to evolve into something greater. Greater than what, he didn't really know.

He heard Yuu say his name, felt the baited breath of the crowd, and opened his eyes. Show time.

With a thought, the mechanics of the Moving room were activated, and when he stepped from the shadows on a high up platform the walls and floor were already springing into place, forming stairs as he stepped onto them, down from above. Shu ignored all the eyes on him, focusing only directly in front of him, face calm, body relaxed and yet ready for movement at a moments notice. He moved like a predator. As he decended the stairs, crystals grew over the sides, crawling along after him, forming eerie black spikes and narrowing the path to barely a meter.

When he stepped onto the platform, level with his mentor, only then did he look to his audience. He sensed they could feel his gaze on them, sending shivers down their spines as he skimmed the many faces. The followers were the most visible, spread on the catwalks and balconies, a good number of them positioned close enough to be used as weapons, as Yuu often did. Carefully positioned beneath them, in such a way that Shu had to tilt his head back slightly to see them all, the test subjects were squashed onto a balcony of their own, watching him with wide, painfully raw eyes. He let a faint smile come to his lips, one that didn't really convey any feasible emotion, but oozed confidence. The audience all but swooned.

Yuu lifted his arm and a blood red apple materialized from nothing. He caught it and held it up, smiling his usual, devious smirk. "We are going to duel, you and I, Adam." He said. "There shall be no restrictions. Winner is the first to land a hit on the other. Alright?"

Shu tilted his head slightly, directing his smile, now more amused, at his mentor. "Sounds fun." He answered, shortly. Yuu's smile stretched, and he tossed Adam the apple. He stretched out an arm and the chest of a nearby follower began to glow, endless black and white ribbons—Void ribbons Shu often thought—exploding from within the light, coalacing in the Gravekeeper's hands and forming a staff with long, elegant blades on both ends. He twirled it in his hands before resting in a ready stance, facing Shu who still held the apple.

"Choose your weapon, Adam. Feel free to pick anyone." Yuu said, not taking his gaze from his opponent. Shu looked at the apple in his hands, as if thoughtful, and then a mischievous smile broke out across his features.

"Actually, I already have."

He turned towards the stairs, lifting his arm, empty hand open and beckoning. The motion drew the eyes of all those watching, and a soft, awed gasp passed amongst them. Inori stepped delicately down the stairs, followingt the narrow path previous formed. The crystals hemming her shivered as she passed, black buds sprouting from the jagged surfaces and blooming into eerily beautiful, crystal flowers. She had discarded her black shawl to expose her white dress, like a butterfly broken free of its chrysalis. The crystal flowers hemmed her in an ethereal kind of light, which combined with her gentle expression and beauty made her seem otherwordly.

Reaching the last few steps, Inori took Shu's offered hand like a queen accepting the assistance of a gentleman, and lifted her eyes to meet his. They maintained eye contact even as Shu tossed the apple high into the air, staring deeply into each other's eyes in a way that only partners who understood each other beyond the need for words can. Shu wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a kind of embrace, drawing her comfortably close, and lifted his hand—the black symbol darkening his skin—to her already glowing chest.

The amount of light that resulted from such a simple action momentarily blinded everyone in the room. When the spots cleared from most of their eyes, they were blinking in astonishment and rubbing them to be sure they weren't imagining anything. From the small slip of a girl Adam had somehow managed to draw an enormous sword, easily taller than he yet he hefted it over his head with one hand. The sword had the corroded design about its hilt that was typical of the virus crystals, with a metallic sheen across its wickedly sharp blade speaking of a substance far superior to mere metal.

It was a rather elegant weapon to behold, all in all, and fit Adam quite well if not the petite girl it came from—although appearance was nothing to judge a Void by. Sometime during the flashing of the bright light, Shu had caught the apple once more. As Inori took a step back, he handed it to her.

Adam turned to face the smirking Yuu, weapon in hand. "Shall we?"

The Gravekeeper only grinned in response. Inori glanced at both of them, expressionless, before raising the apple for everyone to see. She then brought it to her lips, as if to kiss it, only for it to unravel into golden ribbons and sparkling dust.

And the duel began.

The two fighters shot at each other at an inhuman speed, their respective weapons meeting with loud clang. To the human eye, they were a blur—a dance of blades and bodies. Yuu twirled his staff in a deadly display of agility, a feral smile on his face the entire time as he stabbed, missed, twirled, and stabbed again. Ferocious, yet lackadaisical, like he was merely playing a game. Shu, in contrast, gave mightly swings of his sword—knocking the blades of his opponent away or meeting them in a head on collision. Despite the size of his weapon his movements were fluid, and strikes he couldn't meet he simply dodged, swaying to one side or the other as if the attacks themselves were in slow motion and he need not be alarmed at all.

If there was anything the King seemed to have over his mentor, it was strength. When Yuu came in for a stab, he leapt into the air—a good twenty feet into the air—and kicked off a blue circle that appeared from nowhere as if it were solid ground, propelling himself down again with his sword in front of him. Yuu raised his weapon to block, but the sword cut through it like butter, shattering the entire thing and forcing him to deconstruct himself and reform several meters away or be split in half. Instead, the sword plowed into the platform, leaving a sizable crater.

Undeterred, Yuu pulled Voids in the shapes of twin pistols from the aresenal of followers, firing repeatedly as he bounced around the different platforms. Adam merely had to lift a hand, another blue, glowing circle expanding as a kind of shield from the tiny blasts emitting from the supernatural guns. Using more circles as stairs, he chased after his mentor, performing startling acrobatics in the air to avoid bullets and sending thin, metallic Void ribbons spinning after the mobile blond, as deadly as the blade in his hand as evidenced by the chunks of platform they sliced off when they missed.

Yuu grew bored of the pistols fairly quickly, and soon replaced them with twin rapiers. When they both landed on the same platform he sent jagged purple crystals at Adam, bursting from the floor in deadly spikes in an honest attempt to impale him. Shu twisted away from the overgrown needles, smashing one or two to prevent being trapped, and turned to find the Gravekeeper inches away from his back with his smile stretching to freakish proportions. In that split second, he overrided his mentors command over the crystals, turning them black, and suddenly Yuu was the one with crystal spikes sprouting beneath his feet, forcing him back when one nearly took his head off.

As he jumped back, a metallic ribbon knocked one of his blades away, sending it spinning off the platform to the floor far below. In the blink of an eye, Adam was at his side, his sword against Yuu's throat. As glittering red met brilliant blue, the two opponents smiled.

"I win." Shu said, one corner of his mouth turning up in a crooked smile. His mentor smirked.

"Oh really?" He asked, devilishly. The tip of his remaining blade tickled the underside of Adam's chin—but his smile only widened.

"Really."

Yuu blinked, and something red dripped across his vision. He reached up and his fingers found the cut, a tiny thing, leaking precious fluids just above his left eyebrow.

"First hit wins." Shu said, smirking as he withdrew his blade. Yuu stared at him, lips pursed, and finally gave an approving smile. He shrugged, letting the rapier fall from his grip and dispers, admitting defeat.

The crowd cheered.

**OoOoOoOoO**

When he entered the Cradle, Alio couldn't help but mutter 'Wow' under his breath while taking in the throne and the general impressiveness of the chamber. Shu smiled a little at this, leading the way to the chair and lowering himself into it, allowing Inori to perch at his right once more before returning his attention to his newly instated vassal. Alio stood not far off, shifting nervously from one foot to the other, occasionally rubbing his throat, as if marveling the absence of the collar that had so long resided there.

Adam had wasted no time leaving the Moving room once the duel had ended, and made it clear to Yuu, in short, no-argument statements, that he now had a vassal to do his bidding. His mentor hadn't seemed entirely pleased at being told what to do, but had smirked and said something like 'As you wish, my King' and disappeared. Shu took this as a consent do do whatever the hell he wanted—and at that point all it took was a tap from him and a little power to shatter that infernal collar, leading them to where they were now.

"So, Alio…" Shu started, drawing the other boy's attention. "As I'm sure you've already figured out, as my Vassal, you are essentially an extension of my will—people can't oppose you because that would be the same as opposing me. I suppose that makes you immune to the orders of everyone except for Yuu, Shuichiro, and possibly Haruka, although the latter for different reasons than the former." He paused to make sure he was understood, when he received a nod he continued. "I would mostly like for you to be a pair of eyes and ears for me—I can't be everywhere, and frankly I'm stuck here most of the time anyway. There are other things in this facility I'd like to know about, but I tend to draw more attention than is practical for simply observing. Does that sound alright?"

Alio hesitated, looking towards his feet. "I…of course."

Shu tilted his head curiously, wondering where the boy's confidence seemed to have gotten to. "Is something the matter, Alio?"

"Not…really…" He touched his neck again, an unconscious gesture. "I just…wonder why you would want someone like me around."

Shu's eyebrows lifted, before a crooked smile worked its way onto his face. "Ah…well…aren't we friends, Alio?" He asked calmly.

Alio's expression was almost sad, a kind of ironic half smile beneath shadowed blue eyes. "I don't really feel like I'm worthy." He admitted. There was a moment of silence, and Inori cast curious looks between the two of them, not entirely understanding the reason for the tension in the air.

"Shu…" She looked at him with concerned eyes. "Aren't we all…friends?"

The King looked at her, his dear partner, and at Alio, who didn't return the look. Finally he sighed and stood, giving Inori a reassuring smile.

"Of course we are." He turned to his vassal. "And friends trust each other."

Alio looked up in surprise when Adam offered his hand, the symbol on the back faintly glowing. When he wrinkled his brow in confusion, the King merely smiled.

"I know I'm asking a lot of you for someone you barely know—the road ahead of us is not any easier than the one you were following, and may very well be more dangerous—but I am asking you to follow me anyway as a friend and not a servant." A red, glowing light formed around their feet, but remained muted, as if held at bay as the two teens locked gazes. "And I protect my friends."

Alio stared at him, his skin prickling from the energy he could feel emanating from the King, threatening to overflow. He had no idea what exactly Adam was doing, what taking his hand would do, or how different he would be when this was over—and yet, meeting those red, gentle eyes somehow made him feel at peace, like his own misgivings simply gone. When he should have been terrified and supicious he felt…safe.

Alio took a deep breath and managed a faint smile, almost sheepish. "I trust you."

Shu smiled. "Right back at you."

They clasped hands, and the light was released.

An unnatural burst of wind and explosion of colorful ribbons of light made Inori shield her face, wrapping her arms around herself protectively until she could _feel_ that the spasm of otherwordly energies had died. When she dared to look up, she saw the two teen standing there as they hand before, their right hands together as if in that funny custom of greeting she'd heard of, both looking a little dazed.

"Uh…" Alio blinked a few times, swayed a little, and sat. Right there on the floor. "Whoa."

Shu chuckled a little, and sat as well, a little more gracefully. "You said it."

"What the hell was that?"

"Ah…a gesture of trust?" The King shrugged. Alio stared at him with a somewhat incredulous expression.

"…You've never done that before, have you?"

"Would you be upset if I said no?"

Stare.

"Well I admit it was my first time trying that, and I wasn't entirely sure it would work but…"

Stare.

"Oh come on, I'm perfectly in control of my own powers, just because I've never practiced it doesn't mean I didn't know how…"

_Stare_.

"All right! I get it, I'm sorry." Shu, Adam, the King, was, for once, sheepish and blushing, waving his hands to ward off the accusing look. "Stop looking at me like that."

Alio raised an eyebrow dryly, before his poker face cracked and he smiled. Shu, as well, started smiling, before he started to snicker, and suddenly they were both laughing. Behind them, Inori smiled, pleased to see her beloved Shu and his new friend so at ease.

"Well," Adam said, as the laughter died down. "Now that it's official—as my Vassal, could you do me a favor?"

Alio shrugged, smiling. "What are friends for?"

**OoOoOoOoO**

Gai was contemplating his next move. Very seriously. As of late he had been far more preoccupied with maintaing order and protecting Tennouzu from the Gatherers than his own plans to destroy GHQ, and it was about time that changed. He'd set up a firm enough system that the little fortress and people around it would survive without him directing every little thing, and although seeing such a well-oiled machine made from scavenged parts made him proud, he couldn't afford to sit comfortably here in Loop 7 anymore. Fighting off Gatherers may have become just another part of the routine, but it wasn't going to last forever, and he knew that the longer he spend sitting back here in this wasteland the more time GHQ had to complete their objectives and prepare for their true purpose.

The Gatherers, and Gemhead as he was called, were sent here for a reason, and Gai didn't like the implications at all. His enemy was growing in power, and whatever it was that was stalling their plans wasn't likely to hold out for much longer. He'd only been picking at the edges of his enemies forces, but now he wanted to start hitting them where it hurt. He wanted to crack their great facility open like an egg and crush them.

But first he needed information.

For that reason, he entered one of the school labratories that had become their resident genius' official haunt. Half of the room was littered in machine parts, and the other half computers. They had been working on building a holographic hub for her to use instead of normal computers, but with their limited resources it was somewhat slow going. Tsugumi had almost made up for it however by editing the hell out of her computers hard components.

She sat there now, on a spinning stool with another of her robot prototypes in her lap—this one didn't look like a toaster for once. Even as she worked, she seemed to be arguing with Daryl via computer link with his Endlave about what color she wanted to paint the robot. He and Ayase normally dueled or practiced at about this time, and Tsugumi had made it a point to monitor them both from her computers. Apparently the duo wre both skilled in multitasking as Gai could hear crashes in the background though Daryl spoke in a completely calm voice. Considering Endlaves are supposed to be piloted by the mind this was somewhat impressive.

"I'm telling you, Tsugumi—neon green. That'll make people take a second look." Daryl was saying, talking over the faint explosion in the background. Tsugumi made an annoyed sound.

"And I'm telling _you_—if I want a robot that can be used to stealth then I don't want people to take a second look!" She applied a little more force than necessary to the little door on the contraption as she closed it, setting the entire thing aside just as she looked up and spotted Gai.

"Oh! Hey, Gai. What's up?" She grinned at him, her electronic headband in the shape of pointed ears making her seem rather catlike. The leader of the Undertakers returned the smile before getting to business.

"I was hoping you could hack into GHQ files for me and retrieve anything having to do with something called 'Daath'."

"'Daath'?" Daryl, who was listening, asked from the computer. "What's that?"

"Why should it matter? And this is a private conversation!" Tsugumi scolded him, but even so she didn't move to cut the connection.

"It's a supposedly secret department of GHQ," Gai explained to both of them. "I believe they are the ones responsible for the Gatherers, therefore they are dangerous and the more we know about them the better."

"I see." Tsugumi nodded understandingly. "Well then, count on me! I'll turn those computers inside out if they think they can hide anything from me!"

Gai smiled and thanked her, leaving the petite genius to her devices as she set to work, already resuming an argument with Daryl as her hands flew over the multiple keyboards.

As Gai made his way down the halls of Tennouzu, he was joined by Shibungi, his second-in-command, most trusted, and experienced advisor.

"So…" The man started in a casual tone of voice, as if speaking about the weather. "Do you think we can handle GHQ and all of its assets as we are, should the need arise?"

Gai gave a confident smile. "Absolutely."

**OoOoOoOoO**

Alio eyed the folder in his hand with nothing less than pleased astonishment. It'd been almost _too _easy to get this information with Adam's authority backing him up, and he had to admit, it was incrediably satisfying to watch people's reaction to his new position. The followers he'd had to go through to get access to the databases had been initially disbelieving, but when they saw the King's symbol that had appeared on his neck they were very reluctant to question his word.

Others might see it as just another collar, but Alio didn't. To him, it was more like a badge of honor, and he was proud to wear it. Adam had said it was merely a side effect of the power he had shared, which Alio was certain would not have been possible if he was not previously a test subject and thus already somewhat occustomed to the virus and its strange powers. That being said, he felt strangely light on his feet, a kind of tingling weightlessness had taken over his entire body since having so much power shoved into it—somewhere between pleasantly invigorating and uncomfortable. He hoped he'd be able to get used to it soon, since feeling so damn _strong_ couldn't possibly be good for his ego.

As he entered the Cradle chamber he wasn't surprised to see Adam reclining on his chair with Inori at his side, her arms wrapped around a bundle that she rested her chin on as she listened. They both looked up as he approached.

"Back already?" Shu asked, standing. It'd been less than an hour since his Vassal had left.

"Yup. Got what you wanted." Alio waved the folder around. "You should've seen the way the followers looked at me when I told them who I was."

The King smiled and accepted the folder, gesturing to Inori. "We have something for you, if you don't mind. Why don't you try it on?"

Alio lifted an eyebrow as Inori took him by the wrist and pulled him around the side of the crystal monolith surrounding the Cradle's throne. She handed him the bundle.

"You should look the part." She said, stepping back. It sounded like she was repeating Adam's words.

Alio wasn't surprised—supernatural tattoo or not, he still _looked_ like a test subject—and unfolded the clothing without complaint. It looked a lot like the uniforms the followers wore except…darker. Less white and more grey and black. The shirt collar was open so the symbol on his neck was still visible, and it came with a distinct, short-sleeved white coat of sorts, somehat like Adam's regalia except shorter, lighter, and less intricate. It certainly set him apart from the normal followers.

"It looks nice." Inori said, regarding him with a tilted head as he tugged on the front of the coat. His lips twitched.

"You're style sense is comforting." He fiddled with his sleeves. "This feels so weird."

"There should be gloves in the pockets." She pointed at his coat. "Shu said you'd like them."

Alio reached into the coat and produced black, reinforced gloves with white across the knuckles. His King was right—he did like them. He smiled as he pulled them on, flexing his hands in the material. Inori gave him another sideways look and suddenly reached over to push his bangs out of his face. Startled, he leaned away.

"What?"

"I want to see your eyes." She said simply.

"You can see them fine from over there."

"Your hair is in the way."

He twitched. "And?"

She gave him an oddly steadfast look for someone so naïve, and suddenly used both hands to force his hair back from his forehead and stare straight into his eyes. "Don't hide." She said.

He gave her a flat look. "I'm not hiding." He muttered. He let her mess with his hair some more, so it wasn't as obscuring as usual, and when she stood back she looked satisfied.

"Better."

He blew upward at the black locks and crossed his arms. "What does it matter how visible my face is?"

She blinked. "But you're pretty."

Alio resisted the urge to smack himself. "That's not something you say to a guy…" He groaned. Inori just tilted her head, not comprehending.

In front of the Cradle, Shu chuckled softly at their banter, though the fleeting smile slipped from his face as he resumed reading the file. He'd asked Alio to get this mainly because no one knew he had a Vassal yet, and would overlook the breach in security until it was too late. Glancing at the name at the top of the first page, his lip quirked in notalgia.

_Gai Tsutsugami._

He was right in his assumption that his old friend had at some point been involved with Daath—according to these, he was apart of the original attempts at creating Adam. The fact that the file ended with a brief, impersonal statement about the test subject escaping and subsequently dying during pursuit made it clear that Daath had no idea he still lived. The date fit with Shu's memories of the time he and Mana discovered the boy on the beach, all that time ago.

He turned the page, skimming the heading, and froze.

_Adoption…?_

He read more in depth, eyebrows rising. Shuichiro adopted Gai?

_That would make him my…_ Shu smiled a little, faintly. _I guess we were family to begin with, huh, Triton?_

He still thought of Gai as a brother more than anything else, but he found it somehow amusing that he would fish his own cousin out of the ocean. If that wasn't fate, then what was? On the other hand, he would never want to be _Shuichiro's_ son. The man hadn't seemed to take the title as anything more than a right of ownership anyway, if the experimentation papers meant anything.

Shu sighed, closing the filed and tucking it beneath his arm. He turned back to his companions—Inori was trying to get Alio to climb onto the crystal with her—stepping closer to get their attention.

"Thank you for getting this for me, Alio." Shu said gratefully. "Now, if you don't mind, we are going to pay a visit to the Anti-Bodies division."

Alio shrugged, Inori hopped off the crystal and linked arms with her King, and all three of them left the room together.

**OoOoOoOoO**

_AN:_

_FINALLY. This chapter...was originally apart of the previous chapter...and yet it came out so LONG. You see why it had to be made its own chapter? You see?_

_I'm not good at fight scenes. I like watching them, and I thought they should of had more in this series, but I'm crap at writing them. But, anh, at least I tried._

_As for comedy relief, I felt like pointing out that Inori doesn't know the difference between 'pretty' and 'handsome', or things like it. And the staring contest. I liked that part._

_Let's see if I can't keep myself out of Purgatory long enough to get out the next few chapters, hm...?_

_Read, review, respond, rrrrrr~~~~~~Do You LIKE CAKE? I'm making a Trifle RIGHT NOW actually... I DO NOT HAVE AN ATTENTION DISORDER!_

_MB_


	12. Knight

_**AN: **So...yeah. This is kind of last second. I have nothing to you like it...yeah..._

_I Own Nothing...Except for OC's..._

_**GUILTY MELODY**_

**12-**_Knight_

Shu was…annoyed. Significantly. He was used to his uncle's insufferable attitude—he'd been dealing with him for the better part of a decade after all—but never before had he considered that the one thing that would irritate him the most wasn't Shuichiro's sneering remarks and subtle insults, but the fact that he _wasn't around_ when he actually _wanted_ to talk to him. It should have been a simple task to go to the Anti-Bodies division, find Shuichiro, have a deceptively polite conversation from which they would both emerge with all their limbs intact, and get on with their lives. Short, simple, sweet.

But _noooooo_…it could never be that easy. Shuichiro was avoiding him. If he didn't know any better, Shu would think his uncle was afraid.

_As he should be. I'm going to flay him alive for this. _Shu thought angrily. After a moment, he was forced to reluctantly admit to himself that Yuu was unlikely to let him do such a thing. Shuichiro was still, technically, an asset. Hopefully not for much longer. The King didn't trust his uncle any further than he could kick him, and he wanted him far away when Mana finally awoke. His alone time in the Cradle was often perfect for plotting the downfall of his self-obsessed, but downright dangerous senior.

_Spoken like a true King._ How ironic.

"Not to interrupt your train of thought, Adam…" His Vassal drawled from slightly behind him. "But if you keep shooting fire from your eyes like that, one of the followers is going to self-combust."

Shu sighed, reigning in his frustration and slowing his steps, falling back just enough to walk evenly with the other. "They'd probably do that anyway if I so much as glanced at them." He responded drily. Alio smiled a little.

"Probably," He shrugged and glanced around. They were relatively alone in the hall, Inori having been left in the King's quarters this particular outing. "I'm guessing it's not just the old fart's disappearing act that's driving you up the wall?"

Shu shook his head, frowning. "What Major Segai said today…"

"Ugh. That guy is so _creepy._"

"…I find I'm more angry that Shuichiro is acting without my knowledge than the fact he's been avoiding me for the past two weeks."

"Well…" Alio frowned as well, running a hand through his hair. "He is the Head of the Anti-Bodies. He does have the authority to do what he wants."

"Not in Loop 7." Shu stated in a hard voice. "Loop 7 is _mine_. He tried to go behind my back and invade, as if he thought I wouldn't notice. I'm preoccupied for a little while, and suddenly he's so bold as to overstep one of the few lines I've drawn." He gritted his teeth. "That _bothers _me."

Alio gave a sympathetic little shrug. "I'm pretty sure it'd bother anyone. You'll just have to re-beat some solid rules into him, next time he crawls out of whatever hole he's hidden himself in."

The King grunted. "If he has any amount of self preservation, he won't come crawling out at all."

**OoOoOoOoO**

The Cradle chamber's acoustics were really something remarkable—they lent Inori's gentle, clear humming a kind of ethereal quality, the notes echoing in such a way that she managed to create the illusion of background music and accompanying voices. The tune was something slow and haunting that both of her listeners thought would sound nice with a piano. There weren't any lyrics just yet that she was willing to sing for them—apparently she couldn't let them hear the words until the entire song was complete.

Inori sat on her perch, to Shu's immediate right at the edge of his reclining throne, a soft smile on her lips as she hummed, playing with her cat's cradle in her lap. Shu sat back, his eyes closed, enjoying the music with a blank, but content expression. Letting the sound of her voice drive away his near constant stresses for a little while and instead sinking into a calm bliss. Alio had—at the unrelenting insistance of Inori—found his own spot on the entirety of crystal that made up the Cradle. He had claimed a miniture ledge on Shu's left, higher than Inori and almost hidden around the side. At the moment, he reclined there, his arms folded behind his head, lazily swinging one foot over the side. At times, it was nice to simply relax, ignore the chaos of the world and reality in general, and _forget_.

Not that it could last.

Inori rather abruptly stopped humming, lifting her head to peer at the door. About half a second later, it opened, and in walked the Gravekeeper. He had his usual, smug smile firmly in place. Totally confident. Totally fake. Inori watched him approach with a blank stare, and Alio kept one eye trained on him over the top of a crystal spike. Shu gave no indication he was aware of his mentor's presence.

"Do you remember that present you're due for, Adam?" Yuu asked, getting straight to the point. Shu opened his eyes to stare dully at the ceiling, taking a moment before he responded.

"I remember," He admitted. "But I wonder if I should be worried?"

"Not at all, this is a good present." Yuu smiled, showing teeth. "I've been working on it for a _very_ long time." He waved his hand in an arching, graceful gesture, and an image, easily the size of a theatre screen and every bit as detailed, materialized from thin air. Curious, Shu opened his eyes and sat up a little to give the screen his full attention. What he saw was somewhat disturbing.

The image displayed was of pure carnage—a mesh of bodies and crystals and discolored blood. The bodies were those of mutated humans and monsters—various strains of the creatures resulting from the use of the Adam Gene—all mutilated almost beyond recognition. In the background he could somewhat make out a vast, cavern like chamber not unlike the Moving room, but with significantly fewer, shorter pillars and completely still. The only movement came from the figures leaping about.

At first, he only noticed the silhouette of one human, standing amongst a backdrop of crumbling corpses that somehow caught fire—but then he saw a second, and soon after, a third. Three human shapes, sprinting about at inhuman speeds and tossing grotesque mutations about like toys.

One of them was elegant and acrobatic in their movements, the form slender and feminine, wielding a long, deadly blade that glowed orange with heat. When this figure missed a strike—which was rare—the blade left clean gouges in the floor or walls. The weapon cut through flesh like butter and shattered the malformed crystals on opponents. When the combat robots or sensing turrets were cut, their metal turned red and exploded.

The second figure was very erratic—whatever they did involved both hands, but they were always switching weapons. Pistols that fired powerful bursts, crystal knives of a never-ending supply that pierced enemies three-times over, and on occasion a staff with disproportionally large blades on either end. This fighter seemed loose, almost lazy in some movements and jerky in others, with no real stance or style to speak of, but they rarely missed and had yet to be struck even once by the flurry of claws and crystal blades from all angles.

The last figure was larger and far more direct than both of the other fighters—this person fought using only their fists and unnatural strength. They did very little jumping or twisting in comparison to the others—in fact this one hardly even bothered to _dodge_. Most attacks seemed to bounce right off. They plowed right through their opponents like a tank against so much dry wood. Shu saw the figure's fist simply pierce a mutant's body in an intimidating, gory display of casual strength. As the dead, bloody corpse fell from the fighter's arm, Shu was certain he saw the white flash of a brutal smile.

"My King," Yuu declared grandly. "I give you your Knights."

Silence. Inori was watching the screen with wide, concerned eyes. Her lips were slightly parted in a faint expression of soundless surprise, her brow faintly wrinkled. Her hand, hidden from the Gravekeeper by her body, squeezed Shu's fingers slightly. He squeezed back, reassuring her, his gaze never leaving the screen. Yuu was clearly flaunting his success at creating a trio of super soldiers, but Adam gave no indication of his thoughts on the matter. He continued to watch, patient until Yuu felt he had gloated enough and the screen faded.

"Well that was…unnecessarily gruesome." Alio muttered from behind him. Shu couldn't agree more. He was silent for a time, choosing his words carefully, mulling over what he'd just seen.

"My Knights you say…?" He leaned his chin on his hand. "And three of them? You have been busy, Yuu."

The Gravekeeper looked very pleased with himself. "It's been a long time coming, Adam. I thought it a shame that your Gene has created so many strong creatures, and yet left all the thinking to you. So much strength can be far better utilized in one who doesn't need you to hold their hand through every action—a true warrior."

"And yet they still follow my orders?"

"To the letter," Yuu confirmed. "But as I said—they retained their individuality, making them more imaginative, adaptable, and clever. The Gatherers are great cannon fodder, but _these_ soldiers will rain hell upon anyone in their path, should you wish it."

"Is that so…" Shu stared into the distance contemplatively. "I would like to meet them."

Yuu nodded, clearly expecting this. "Of course. They should be cleaning themselves up right about now—I will return momentarily." He spun on his heel and vanished into thin air. As soon as he was gone, a tiny piece of crystal hit the floor where he'd been standing.

"That was live?" Alio muttered in disgust. "What was the point of that?"

"To _make_ a point." Shu answered, sighing slightly. "And he just likes being dramatic."

Alio made a vague noise that might have been a snort or a grunt, tossing more crystal up and down. Inori was peering at where the screen had been with a puzzled wrinke in her brow.

"Shu…?" She called softly. "Why did they have those expressions?"

He glanced at her, then away. "…I don't know." He fixed his attention on the massive doors. "But we will soon."

He knew that Alio could sense the approaching Knights as well. The pieces of himself embedded into their makeup calling to him like the Gatherers did. They felt powerful, yes…but also warped. Malevolent.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" The Vassal said in a low, forbidding tone. Shu managed a crooked, dry smirk of amusement.

"Just look bored and full of yourself." He advised. "It works for me every time."

"Hn. Of course."

Inori looked at Shu. "Should I be 'full of myself', Shu?"

He smiled at her. "You just be yourself, Inori. You're plenty intimidating."

Behind him, Alio choked on a laugh. Inori just tilted her head inquisitively. Shu squeezed her fingers one more time before releasing them and leaning back, crossing his legs comfortably. The Cradle remained inactive, but some of the intricate lines in the floor lit up red, casting eerie shadows across the chamber.

He felt the Knight's presences come closer.

The doors shuddered and opened slowly, together, with no visible force pushing them. The three figures revealed on the other side stood tall, neatly arranged in a line, each in a floor length cloak of a different color. As soon as the door was wide enough, they stepped forward together, never breaking their formation. Yuu materialized just to the left of the throne, trademark sneer in place. The Knights stopped roughly three meters from the throne and knelt, gracefully and in sync, their cloaks puddling on the floor around them.

From the left, they wore dark shades of blue, purple, and black. Colors of the Apocalypse Virus. They all looked fairly young, none of them out of their twenties, yet their eyes seemed older—not unlike their King's.

"Well…" Adam felt the tiniest of smirks tugging his lips. "This is interesting. Knights of the Apocalypse. It's a shame there isn't another of you, we could have called you the Four Horseman." His gaze shifted to his mentor. "But then, many good things come in threes."

Yuu sneered. "Of course, my King. Shall I introduce them for you?" Shu nodded, and the Gravekeeper swept his hand in the direction of the Knight in the middle, wearing purple. "Our oldest and first success, the lovely lady Trisiance."

The middle Knight stood, throwing back her hood to reveal her face and stare up at the throne. She had a striking kind of beauty that seemed harsh and intimidating—her cheekbones were high, her chin pointed, her skin pale. Her shoulder-length hair was dark enough to be almost blue, and the red light of the chamber made it seem a darker shade of purple than her cloak. Her eyes were big, black pits. Glittering ominously. Her clothing seemed to be yet another rendition of the follower uniform, in grey and highlighted with gold. A sheathed rapier rested comfortably at her hip.

Her expression was blank, but she seemed entranced. She gave the King her complete attention.

Yuu's hand moved to the Knight on the right, in black. "Our second success, sir Kaite."

The man stood, sweeping his hood back like Trisiance did. He seemed glad to be rid of it—it let his wildly spiked red hair spring back into its proper place. He stood at attention, but unlike Trisiance, his expression seemed almost bored. He was relaxed, yet tensed. Like a predator. Adam easily connected this man with the one who had fought so erratically—their body type matched, and the multitude of belts crisscrossing his uniform supporting holsters and sheaths made it clear he fought with both hands full. The hair made him seem eccentric, but it seemed completely natural. Like maybe he rolled out of bed every morning and never bothered to comb it flat. His features were rakish, and his eyes narrow. They were oddly pale—only faintly blue.

"And our third," Yuu gestured to the Knight on the left, in dark blue. "Simon."

He stood, threw back his hood, and smiled. _Grinned_. Like a shark. For a second, Shu thought his teeth were pointed.

This was the hand fighter. His broadness made it all too obvious. It wasn't only his shoulders that were square though—his chin was square, his brow heavy, his forehead… He was built like a grizzly bear. He was actually handsome in his own hard edged way, his stance tall and confident, but there was something arrogant and callous to him that offput the desire to be friends with him. His hair was cropped military style, short and manageable and light brown. His eyes were like flint, hard and grey.

_Here is a man who does what he wants._

All of them, in their own way, seemed too strong willed to be Knights. Too strong willed to swear themselves to Adam, to Daath.

Yet here they were.

Each one of them, no matter their ego or confidence, looked at the King like they were in awe. Like he was the sun they were seeing for the first time. It left him feeling empowered, and somewhat awkward. How was it they came to admire him so strongly, when he'd never seen them before?

But then, why did _all_ the Daath followers admire him?

People were strange.

"Adam," Yuu turned to him. "Now that you have your present, I should leave you to enjoy it, no? I have trained them extensively, but feel free to test their skills yourself." He bowed dramatically, and at Shu's nod, vanished into thin air.

"He thinks he's so cool when he does that." Alio scoffed, seconds later. He formed a small black crystal in his palm and tossed it into the air. As it descended, it changed shape, flowering outward like a parachute, and floated around to land in Shu's palm. He fingered the crystal and the shape became more diamond like, red glowing in its depths.

"He does. Maybe that's why he won't teach it to me." He smiled at his Knights. "Yuu taught you things, did he? I saw your little performance, and it was very enlightening—but is there anything you could show me that I don't already know?"

The Knights seemed faintly startled at being addressed directly. Their eyes followed his every move, occasionally flickering to Inori perched beside him and Alio's obscured form.

"…I do not think we could, my lord." Trisiance said eventually. Her voice was soft, but rich. "The Gravekeeper only directed us on occasion, improving what skills we developed on our own. Your own power is far greater than ours."

"Hn," Shu glanced at Inori, who looked right back. "I don't know about that. Power is relative—how you use it makes all the difference."

"Exactly," Simon cut in, his voice low and rumbling. "Our power is destructive. So we destroy. You use your power to direct, to obtain, to _rule_. So you are King."

"Ah," Shu smiled lopsidedly. "Is that how it works?"

Simon's predatory sneer faded a little, like he was embaressed at how he addressed the King. Trisiance sent him a look. Shu acted like he hadn't noticed, and tilted his head slightly.

"You know, I've heard your names, but I hadn't really introduced myself, have I?"

"We know who you are, lord." Kaite spoke for the first time, his pale eyes calm and focused.

"Naturally. But that's not the point." The King waved a hand expressively. "This is the first time we have _met_, so we should be introduced." He smirked, and touched his hand to his chest. "I am Adam, and I am the King chosen by the Apocalyspse Virus and my lost Eve." He held his open hand to his right. "This dear child is Inori, my partner. And that," He gestured over his left shoulder. "Is Alio, my Vassal. Will you not welcome our new Knights, my friends?"

Inori peered at them inquisitively. She glanced at Shu—then plucked the black, diamond shaped crystal from his hands and cupped it in her own, smothering it. She looked up at the Knights again. "Welcome to the Cradle," She said, softly. It was Trisiance who wrinkled her brow pensively.

"Cradle…?"

"Because here there are dreams," Inori explained in a patient voice. The Knights gave her blank looks, uncomprehending. At their expressions, Alio smothered a laugh.

"This is where Adam does the kind of dreaming that most cannot imagine," He said. "Don't look so lost, O Mighty Knights. You'll need to get used to this sort of weirdness if you're going to be of any real use."

Shu very valiantly resisted the urge to smile. "Don't be mean, Alio."

"I'm not mean—I just think that you're plenty strong as is, so what are you going to do with your Knights? It's not like you need extra protection."

The trio tensed slightly, perhaps feeling insulted, but gave pause when Adam hummed thoughtfully. "That is…a valid point." He admitted. "I have you and Inori to take care of me in the odd case I am unable to do so, as well as Yuu. Most of the time, I am here or in Loop 7, so it's not like I have an abundance of errands or anything…" He frowned a little, tilting his head to prop his chin on his fist. It had only just occurred to him that this was a genuine problem. Yuu had given him Knights, but what was he to _do_ with them? He was sure his mentor would be happy to supply them with some missions or some such, but he wanted them to have a greater purpose than that…

"We will do whatever you as of us, my lord." Trisiance said. "We are your servants."

"Yes," Shu murmured. "You answer to first to me, before anyone else." He felt a smile creep onto his lips. "As such, your primary job should be to help me maintain order over the territory I govern. You may be aware I have a…kind of playground in Loop 7, where the Gatherers roam. Normally I am there to command them, but as of late, I've found myself somewhat pressed for time to do other things—therefore I want you three to assist me. There is a method to the madness in my playground, and I want you to help me maintain it. Does that sound all right?"

The three Knights looked at one another briefly, more out of what appeared to be astonishment than anything else. They all bowed their heads and responded in sync. "Yes, my lord."

Adam smiled. "This duty includes keeping my scheming uncle and his sticky fingers out of my playground. You have no qualms threatening—or destroying—a few Anti-Bodies or Endlaves?"

They shook their heads. Not even hesitating. He could feel his smile threatening to break into a grin, mischief dancing in his eyes. Unquestioned authority was…quite nice, at times.

_Let's see you top _this_, Shuichiro._

With a little concentration and a wave of his hand, the throne glowed with red veins briefly and an image appeared in the air before them all. It showed what appeared to be a nicely built structure that had seen better days, surrounded by a minature, ramshackle city.

"There is really only one ground rule I have to set," Shu said in a rather cheerful, but steely voice. "This is Tennouzu, a place in Loop 7 survivors have gathered and managed to protect themselves. They've gotten very good at fending off the Gatherers attempts to ravage them for the last two years or so."

The Knights focused on the image, calculation in their eyes. Shu smiled.

"I don't want you to go anywhere near it."

All three of them blinked. That wasn't what they were expecting.

"Why?" Simon blurted out. Trisiance sent him another look at his lack of manners, but Shu's smile didn't waver.

"Simple. I find them…entertaining."

**OoOoOoOoO**

_AN:_

_Yup. That's it. I made more OC's. Just 'cus I'm mean like that._

_Deal with it._

_Review. Please. I'm sorry I'm lazy. S*** happens. Talk to me anyway._

_MB_


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